Crimson Sins: The Turks
by Akino Hakume
Summary: Reno: "Didn't you know, Cloud? We were backstabbin' way before SOLDIER was even thought of!" When Vincent answers a call to arms from Tseng, he turns into the killer he once was dragging Cloud down with him. One Shot; One Kill. Once a Turk; Always a Turk
1. Chapter 1: Standstill

Akino: so in the midst of rewriting Chanterelle I've been working on this little plot bunny. I've got three chapters done but I want to make sure I at least try to get the spelling errors. I've ALWAYS wanted to try my hand at a Vincent-centric fanfic…then I realized that I ALWAYS wanted to do a Turk-centric fic. And then I love cloud…and Shelke….so I said Screw IT it's a Turk/Cloud/Vincent/Shelke Massacre! Let the bullets fly! But yeah. I have NO clue how the pairings are going to work out cuz I'm a BIG Cloud and Vincent fan but also a big Cloud and Reno fan…and to top that all off I like Vincent and Reno (which is a little known pairing but actually makes sense when you think about it like a true FFVII fan) but yeah, this is the final result of my musing about the inner workings of the Turks…Vincent…Cloud…and my budding little Shelke. Trust me, it's a lot of fun! Reno…is getting the love he deserves in this because…well…I just have some kind thing for redheaded idiots like him! *cough*axel*cough* Anyway, enjoy my first attempt at a Final Fantasy VII fic!

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_ "I'm so sorry…"_

_Why? I was the one who was weak._

_**She betrayed you.**_

_She was only afraid. She didn't know what else to do._

_**No one who uses their own son as an experiment is worth mourning.**_

"_I can't take it anymore…My body…my mind…"_

_I can't be there for you. You've trapped here so that I couldn't stop you and you left me alone with him…_

_**She deserves her fate…let her go…**_

_I…can't…_

_**Why hold on to her…when there are always others…**_

_Others? What others?_

_**What others? Heh, I wonder…**_

_The high pitched creak of the lab door coming open made Vincent open his eyes, they're crimson tincture glowing from his formal submersion in the Mako tank. His mind was hazy and his body felt like he was no longer in control of it. All he could do was move his eyes about the room and take in the various tubes around him. His hair had grown long after the years of experiments and his body was an array of scars and needle pricks that were purple from constant injections. His hand…god his hand felt strange._

_"And how are you feeling today, Vincent Valentine?"_

_He blinked once so that he could focus and turned his gaze to the woman at his side. She stood there with a soft smile but for the life of him he couldn't see her face clearly. The light reflecting on her glasses kept him identifying her, but he knew her by now. She was some sort of intern Hojo had hired to do his dirty work. From what he caught when she would randomly talk to him she ran physicals and checks on all of Hojo's experiments daily while the greasy scientist focused on other things. Somehow, just before he was left alone for the night, she would manage to make it to his dark end of the facility. She was gentle with him, taking care of his wounds when Hojo left them open for infection and making sure she spoke to him, letting him know that there was someone out there who knew he was still human. So here she was again, unwrapping something from his left arm. He barely felt it._

_"You're healing pretty quickly, though I'm really sorry for what Prof. Hojo did to you. There was no reason to lose the whole arm just to give you that beast! You wouldn't be here in the first place if she…I'm sorry, that's not my place to say."_

_He couldn't bring his throat to produce sound so all he could was listen to her soft apologize. She wrapped up what was left of his arm and frowned hard. She looked to Vincent and did her best to smile. She touched his hair playing with the soft tassels of hair. "You're really handsome, Vincent Valentine."_

_He felt her touch his left arm, feeling the strange sensation of a limb that was not there. Oh, that's right, the last time he was conscious something went wrong and he nearly bled to death. She leaned close to him and he could feel her breath against his face. He inhaled smelling sweet wildflowers and country air. If he had more strength he would've smiled; the girl smelled like freedom._

_"Vincent Valentine," she said softly taking firm hold of his left arm. "I made something for you…"_

_He flinched when something cold and sharp brushed his cheek. "Can you turn? Come on, just one look?"_

_A small bit of determination brewed within him and he managed to make his head turn to face her. A smile was present and she held a gold and black claw in her hands. She touched the inside of it and the fingers moved back and forth, clenching and unclenching._

_"It's for you; an arm for an arm, so to speak. It's taken me a long time to design but amazingly, it works well. All I have to do is connect it to the nerves in your arm and it will be as if you never lost it. There is one problem though. Once it's on, you can never take it off. I've created it so that it cannot be pulled or taken off by anyone, not even you." She put the clawed arm down on the table next to his head. "I wish you had the strength to speak. At least you could give your consent for this, but Professor Hojo is keeping you under heavy sedation. I…"_

_She shook her head and picked up the arm. "I'm going to put you under now and attach the arm. Prof. Hojo won't mind; he says it's a nice addition to your deformities." She caressed the claw. "I think it's beautiful, just like you are."_

_With that said she filled a syringe with clear liquid and injected it into Vincent. Just as the anesthesia began to take effect, the girl put her hands over his ears blocking out all sound. He saw her mouth something that, had he had not been a Turk, he wouldn't have caught._

_"I love you…"_

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**Final Fantasy VII: Crimson Sins **

**The Turks**

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**Chapter One: Standstill **

Reno was thrown against the stone wall of cell, his shoulder blades connecting painfully with the brick. He cursed loudly and recovered quickly running at the cage just as they closed it. His dark ruby hair hung wild and free around his shoulders having lost his hair tie long ago. His chartreuse eyes were wild with blood lust and he practically growled at his captors. The blood flowing from the gash on his forehead gave him and overall feral look. He was hurt, tired, and pissed the hell off.

They had caught him when Rude had picked him up for work and was briefing about some missing person whose name he couldn't recall. They'd beat the hell out of Rude until he was unconscious and then kidnapped him. Reno had fought tooth and nail mind you but these people were brute strength incarnate and they punched and kicked him the whole way there.

"Let me out of here, dammit!" he snarled tugging at the bars. "I swear on all that's holy, when I get out of here every one of your asses is mine!"

"Oh the little gutter rat still has fight in him!" a male voice chuckled.

"I'll say," a female voice giggled. She was the only one who allowed herself to be seen clearly. The white medical patch hid one of her slanted lavender eyes and her white blond hair had been pulled back in a ponytail. Reno judged that she was part Wutai. He knew the features from being around Tseng all these years. Her petite body was covered in an all white uniform he didn't recognize but it had the SOLDIER emblem embroidered on the left side. Her back was erect and she had the air of arrogance that most people in power had. It told Reno she was some form of high blood and if that was true, Reno would enjoy taking her out all the more. She came to him and leaned towards him. "He's a pretty one isn't he? I'm afraid you haven't been honest with your fellow ShinRa buddies, have you Reno?"

Reno glared hard at the woman as she waved a delicate finger in front of him. He really wanted to bite it off but the last thing he wanted was for this next hit to cause permanent damage. He needed to be conscious so he could think and escape. But, being who he was, Reno couldn't resist. He snapped forward and clenched his pearly whites around her pretty finger. He knew there would be blood even before she screamed and pulled back with it trailing down the side of his mouth. She cursed and yelled when he spat her blood back at her.

"You filthy bastard!"

He smirked at her and dodged the backhanded slap she tried to get him. "Keep it up and I'll snatch your other eye out, yo!"

She hissed at him. He backed all the way away from the bars and watched her cradle her little hand, completely satisfied. He heard the man laughing in the shadows.

"Come on, Tsu-Li, the boss'll be waiting for us!"

She cast him one more murderous sneer before stomping off. Once he was sure she wasn't looking, he closed his eyes and licked the Mako infused blood off the side of his mouth. The taste wasn't bitter like normal blood was, oh no; the Mako injections has sweetened it. Reno's eyes opened, his eyes flashing bright in the darkness before dimming down to their normal green.

"Well Tseng, you wanted to know who was fucking with us, yo. There's your answer."

"We'll be there as soon as possible, Reno," Tseng promised through his com-link. "I'll make sure Valentine will be accompanying us."

Reno chuckled. "They really had no clue what they were fucking with right here..."

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Vincent Valentine opened his eyes slowly and looked up at the crystal that housed Lucrecia's body. She had been silenced since the Omega incident and no longer whispered words of apology though every now and then a tear or two would fall from her eyes. This made him confused about whether she was alive or not. The Mako had preserved her perfectly and she'd picked such an ironic resting place for herself. Chaos, the place she'd discovered it and the Protomateria. He touched his chest where the materia still resided. Even with Chaos no longer whispering in his ear, he had yet to dispose of it. It was sentimental value that made him hold onto it still.

Breathing a deep sigh, the former Turk got up from the ground and went to leave, his boots clicking on the hardened surface. The fresh air greeted him warmly with cool wind blowing into his hair making it billow in the wind. He approached the edge of the cliff and glanced down at where his ride waited for him. He preferred to fly but since Chaos's disappearance, he no longer had wings and therefore he no longer had transportation. With a flourish of his cape he jumped down and landed in the ground silently. Red fell all around him as his cape settled about his ankles. Cloud Strife leaned against his the Fenrir with his lightly muscled arms crossed and Mako eyes closed. They opened when Vincent approached providing him with a view of the last set of true Mako eyes left on the Planet.

"You ready?" he asked, his voice always even.

He gave a curt nod and waited for Cloud to mount his motorcycle before climbing on behind him. He secured his arms around Cloud's waist careful not to tear his clothes with his claw. Fenrir roared to life, its engine howling as they took off across the plains heading for Nibelheim. He'd cut his visits to Lucrecia's keep down to once a year and made that the day that Omega Weapon was defeated and Chaos returned to the Lifestream. It had been four years now and lots had changed. Edge was a prosperous city and had recovered well from the disaster that was Deep Ground. Thanks to the former AVALANCHE and WRO backed by Rufus, the Planet recovered nicely and there was so much peace of mind that slowly, very slowly, they'd all begun to live again.

Tifa had finally given in to Rude's affections for her and had gone as far as to marry the Turk. He'd hung around and hung around until he'd gotten a ring on her finger and now was a better father than anyone thought a Turk could be. He still worked for ShinRa, nothing would change that, but Tifa had become his first priority. Cloud had said that Tifa deserved someone who wouldn't let the world get in the way and Vincent knew the blond was happy that Tifa would move on. However, there were times when he would see a strange sort of jealousy in those tainted blue eyes. Somehow, he knew that the jealousy not over losing Tifa to Rude. In fact, he was certain of it.

Yuffie had become a real Empress in Wutai now that she'd reached a more mature age but…well she was still Yuffie. She skipped out on ruling Wutai to hunt down Materia and adventure while her betrothed husband would pick up the mess in her place. Vincent still hadn't figured out how to block her number. Barrett was doing well with his oil company. He had become a bit of a nouveau riche guru and wasn't afraid to show off the wealth. Marlene was starting to show the beauty of a woman and her father spoiling her with clothes and the like only enhanced it. Denzel was starting understand that beauty very well. Reeve continued his campaign with WRO sending Cait Sith 5 to check in on him as much as possible. Nanaki was living out his days in peace in the far reaches of Cosmo Canyon where the air was still fresh and the stars were always so close. Vincent found himself there more often than he use to. Cid Highwind…no one even knew where to begin with him. After the Shera went down he settled his free-spirit down with the _real _Shera or in his words "Made an honest gal out of her." Though recently, rumors of an unearthed airship would pass around Midgar. There was no doubt Cid hadn't given up his love of the sky for the love a woman. Shera was nice but there was no way she could compete with the flying for Cid's heart.

Cloud still kept to his small delivery business and did nothing to expand it. He was content with the size of it as it was and it kept his humble abode intact. The blond had a small amount of the peace everyone was experiencing but like him, Cloud was still forced to hold on to things that no one understood. Every now and again, the shadow over Cloud would lift and he would see the world for what it was but most of the time he was the same burdened man who could not wrap his heart around the serenity. Closure had not come for Cloud like it had for Vincent and in that Vincent often felt the smallest trace of guilt. The fight with the Remnants and Sephiroth had done nothing but tear through the scar tissue of his past and reawaken the pain of all he'd lost. If there was anything Vincent could say he felt a form of happiness about, it was that the Deep Ground incident had broken his chains and given him the freedom to pull Cloud out of the darkness as well. It was through their shared histories that they began to grasp larger pieces of the tranquility. They were friends, now. Not friends like what Zack had been to him, but friends that were uniquely bound together by blood, torment, and horror. That tied them closer than any type of brotherhood could.

"Vincent?" Cloud yelled over the roar of the motorcycle.

He leaned slightly to let him know he was listening. Cloud bit his lip slightly. "When we get back to Nibelheim I'm going to be taking a break from delivering. Did you want to go somewhere?"

"Not in particular," he replied unsure of what else to say.

"Then you'll come with me to Edge for supplies and on to the Capital?"

Ah, he understood. Cloud's idea of getting away from it all was the same as his. They would disappear for days, maybe even weeks if the mood took them. It was easy to do so since everyone had lives now and because of it, they were often forgotten in the throes of happiness and life. This was fine, being detached from the makeshift family they had formed was a blessing. It made it easier when the clock caught up to their companions and left them untouched. They'd found out through time and logic that neither of them were going to age and unless someone murdered them, they weren't going to die. Hojo had long ago seen to that. It only made sense that they're idea for a vacation was in a place that would never change just like them.

"I'll go. Shelke can take care of the Mansion."

Cloud nodded his affirmation and continued to concentrate on driving Fenrir. He didn't hide the smalls smile of satisfaction though.

They made it back to Nibelhiem and pulled up to the ShinRa Mansion. Shelke smiled calmly and came to greet them. She, like them, would never change in appearance or age making her a more than compatible roommate. It had become her self-proclaimed duty to be a secretary/nanny to them, making sure they ate, slept, and took care of themselves. The girl was good with gil and kept the place stocked with supplies and the like to make it livable. She took orders for Cloud and went shopping for them when they were gone and never was a burden. Shelke took care of herself and enjoyed it that way though every now and then something painful would happen. Shelke still needed the Mako treatments to keep her alive and therefore could not leave with them on trips. The only place she could travel to with them was Edge because she could easily access the old Mako tanks and keep herself healthy. Her eyes glowed with the contaminated light of the chemical mirroring theirs in both radiance and pain.

"You had a call, Cloud Strife." She said softly, her voice too big for her now. She still had that strange habit of calling people by their full name. "Tifa Lockhart wants to see you when you pass through Edge; she has a delivery for you to make."

Cloud's thing brow arched in confusion. "Tifa actually has work for me?"

It has been a long time since either of them had even stepped into Seventh Heaven. Shelke shook her head to show that she didn't know any details. Her eyes shifted to Vincent and her smile warmed even more.

"Vincent Valentine, there was a call from Tseng of ShinRa. He wishes to speak with you."

"The answer is no."

"I said that," she said blandly.

Tseng, leader of the Turks, had been in a hard push to get Vincent back on the payroll. They'd offered him a vast variety of things from money to a new home, but each one he'd refused. He was a Turk straight through to his heart, no doubt, but technically, he was deceased and wanted to keep it that way. He would never adorn the Turk uniform and its painful memories ever again. Tseng understood his sentiments and had implored Rufus ShinRa to leave him alone but the president was bent on having the gunner among the Turks again. He'd even gone as far as to get Reno and Rude to try and force him. They both went home with bullets in both their bodies and pride. Though that Reno had put up a hell of a fight, he mused. The idiot had this strange determination when they had fought to take Vincent down.

"But," Shelke added. "He says it has nothing to do with their request. He says it's something of interest to you and only you. Should I tell you aren't interested?"

"Did he say anything else?"

She shook her head and glanced at Cloud who was checking for his wallet. "Where are you going, Cloud Strife?"

"To the grocer, dinner's not going to buy itself," he said waving over his shoulder as he took the walk to the village.

She nodded, returning her gaze to Vincent. Vincent shook his head. "I'll call Tseng later."

"Understood," she said walking back inside. Vincent followed her with a slight smile. After four years, the only thing that had really changed about the girl was her voice and her clothes. He went inside the mansion which they had painstakingly restored to its original beauty. The paint was fresh, the window replaced, and the floor waxed so well that it perfectly reflected the ceiling. It was strange that the place that had caused Vincent and Cloud the most pain was where they felt most comfortable. Being where it had all started was like being in a neutral zone where neither the past nor present could get a good footing. Shelke made her way to the study in a short jog and came out with a piece of note paper.

"I already have Tseng's number, Shelke."

"I know that," she gave him one of her blank stares. She only did that when he either stated the obvious or made a mistake. "Tseng said to call him on this number instead of the company phone. He said he wanted it off the record that he'd spoken to you a second time today."

Suspicion nagged him like a hound on his heels. Something wasn't right about this. "That doesn't sound like something Tseng would normally do."

"I would take care, Vincent Val--Vincent. If they sent someone to attack you before…then…"

"This could be a trap," he finished for her. "I'll take it in my room."

She nodded and made her way back to the study. "I have to do the budget for this month. The bills are due and I want to be finished by dinner."

With that she disappeared into the room and the door closed behind her. He walked up the center stairs, perfectly restored with no trace of his battle with Rosso and the Arachnid. His room was the same room that housed the entrance to the basement. Cloud avoided his room most of the time and only came as far as the doorway. He slept on the other side of the mansion so that he would not be above the basement. Sometimes Vincent didn't understand Cloud very well but he was sure the feeling was mutual.

He sat down on the window sill and examined the note paper Shelke had given him; her elegant numbers were actually hard to read sometimes. This was scribbled in a rush he assumed. The number was a random number, a disposable phone perhaps. Why all this secrecy? He dialed the number and pressed his cell to his ear. It only took one ring before Tseng's collected voice came through the speaker.

"Vincent Valentine, a pleasure to hear from you."

"What is it Tseng? You wouldn't go through all this for nothing."

"This is something that is going to be kept among the Turks and the Turks alone."

"I told you I didn't-"

"I know and understand your reasons, but this is not ShinRa business. This is something that requires your expertise as one of the most impressive Turks in our records. Only me, Rude and now you know of this…issue."

"And Elena and Reno?"

"Elena is trusted for her job, but not with information. If pressured, she would not remain silent. This is something that we need to handle alone."

"You're purposely avoiding Reno's name so I'll assume something has happened to him."

There was a long pause. "Come to Midgar tomorrow, Valentine, and I'll brief you on what has happened among us within the past six days."

The phone was hung up and Vincent made no effort to call back because Tseng would've disposed of the phone within the time it would take him to dial the number again. He processed what little he'd gotten from Tseng using a path of thinking that he hadn't in a long time. This wasn't ShinRa business, he'd said. That meant the Rufus didn't have a clue about it and that Tseng was doing something he rarely did, acting on his own. Apparently it had gotten him into something too big for and now something had befallen Reno because of it. He sighed closing his crimson eyes. The man didn't even wait for him to agree to it; it was probably because he'd set his mind to do it before the call had ended. At least he would hear the man out.

"_Does it hurt terribly, Vincent?"_

Vincent suddenly cringed and doubled over as torrents of pain shot up his left arm like lightening. His body weakly felt back against the window and his body arched to take some of the edge off the pain. He held his clawed arm tight and rolled over on it so that it was caught between him and the wall, as if the weight and pressure would ease the pain. The shots of agony pulsed all the way to his shoulder making him growl out his suffering. It spread all the way to his head making explosions of white behind his eyes before they rolled to the back of his head and he hit the floor

Shelke wearily made her way up the stairs on her way to the basement. It was past time for her Mako treatment and she'd gotten too wrapped up in work to notice. Careless. She knocked on the door to Vincent's room for permission to come in. When he didn't respond she opened the door to find him passed out on the floor. The position he lay in told her that he struggled before he fell and she immediately went to his side. Skills she didn't know she possessed came into play as she rolled him over and checked his pulse. She used what minimal knowledge Lucrecia had of his current body and searched for the cause of his black out. Nothing was wrong.

"Vincent," called in a voice that was both hers and not. "Vincent Valentine."

A groan was all she heard and his fake arm moved involuntarily. She lifted it slowly, being mindful of Vincent's expression of pain, and inspected it. The fingers twitched and bended under her gaze and she confirmed what she feared.

"You have…phantom limb syndrome," she sighed. "You're in pain because the nerves are trying to pass through what is not there. I suppose it overloaded your senses."

Vincent did not wake. Shelke put his arm down and used what little strength she had to get him into bed. Panting, she spoke as if he could hear her in his unconsciousness. "There nothing I can do about it. You will have to deal with it on your own when you wake."

She turned to go to the basement but paused. Her vision clouded over and she thought for a moment that she was going to pass out from not getting to the Mako chamber in time but no. That wasn't it. She suddenly couldn't feel her own body and it begun to move on its own. No…

Shelke returned to Vincent's side, her eyes glowing with Mako and she sat on the bed beside him. Diminutive hands touched the comatose gunner's face with a loving gentleness before trailing down to the spot on his chest where the Protomateria lay. The spot glowed with the power of the material and she smiled almost manipulatively.

"Vincent," she said in a voice that truly didn't belong to her. "You're always so slow…always late."

Shelke pulled herself closer so that she was hair's breath away from his pale lips. "Not that I…mind though," she whispered with a sardonic smile.

Vincent's eyebrows furrowed in sleep. "Lucrecia…"

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Akino: So I know it was kinda boring. The first chapter always is with me (dunno why) but next we have a REAL Turk-only mission so it's worth sticking around and reviewing, Right? Lol, let me know what you all think so far. Must get back to writing Chanterelle! Ta-ta


	2. Chapter 2: Warnings

He could hear Lucrecia's voice repeating in his head like a broken record filled with static. It was almost like the voice was trying to erase itself from his memory but he wouldn't let it.

_**You're so pathetic, Valentine…**_

"I-I-I'm so s-s-so.." the voice changed. "I-I-I love you…Vincent."

"_What have you been doing in here, girl?"_

_She leaned back, her lab coat touching Vincent's body. "Checking for infections, professor; he's no good to you if he dies in the middle of the night from infection."_

_Vincent felt her hand trembling while she balanced herself on his good arm. He vaguely saw Hojo approach the girl and shove her out of the way. The deranged man looked him over several times before making a satisfied noise. He turned back to his intern._

"_I see no real injury on the subject. I want to see you in my office; since you're so eager to help I'll have something for you to do."_

_Vincent heard the intern murmur a swift 'yes' and the man walked out. She came back to him and put a hand on his human one. She was so warm, so very warm and alive. _

"_You're probably tired of me apologizing by now. I'm sorry I keep disrupting your rest; I'm so stupid. It's just; you're the only one left that I can talk to. He's been harder and harder on me but I'm getting better. I'm learning more and more form him and…" she dropped her voice to a whisper. "I have a copy of all your files. I can help you, Vincent. I can't undo what he's done, but you're a Turk. That means that you __**will **__survive."_

"_Helena!"_

_He could practically smell her fear. "I'll come back tonight Vincent, after you get the HellMasker strain. I promise."_

_Her warm left him and felt abandoned all over again. He prayed that Hojo didn't do anything to her._

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**Final Fantasy VII: Crimson Sins**

**The Turks**

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**Chapter Two: Warnings  
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Shelke awoke to the site of green liquid. She blinked a few times and her mind recognized the Mako tank within the basement. When did she make it all the way to tank? Shelke pressed the water proof button on her bracelet and the tank began to empty. She took a deep breath of clean air, coughing up a bit of the Mako. It surprised her sometimes how she could in take so much of it and not be poisoned but that was one of the reason she'd been chosen for Deep Ground. She stepped out not bothered about being naked and went straight to the shower. Vincent had had it built in for her so that she wouldn't track the viscous material into the house. Last thing they needed were Mako enhanced flies or spiders. She tilted her head back under the spray letting it warm her body. She passed her fingers through her hair which had gotten longer since she'd taken up residence at the manor. It was strange that that was the ONLY thing that changed about her aside from her voice. It bothered her sometimes that she sounded like the twenty-two year old woman she was but her body was still a child's. She stopped the aging process at thirteen meaning that her hormones barely got the chance to reach her. She would never grow old, have children, and never have someone love her unless they were insanely perverted. The only person in the world who truly loved her was dead and the one whom she loved, she loved because of someone else's memories. Oh…

"So, her memories are interfering again. I need to find a way to get rid of this data," she said quietly to herself. "Vincent will always suffer for it and so will I, if I do not get her out of my head."

"_You think you can take me away from Vincent?"_

Shelke cringed and fell back against the shower wall. "This body does not belong to you, Lucrecia Crescent. You are nothing but fragments of Data downloaded to my neural network."

"_I've suffered and come too far for you to stop me. You didn't know what you were getting into when you connected with me. I'm sorry, Shelke. I've grown to like you but you won't interfere with I've planned for Vincent."_

"If he knew…" Shelke whispered in pained breathes. "If he knew what you were…"

"_Then he would hate you as well. Do you really want that?"_

Shelke growled, her eyes glowing orange. "Get out of my head!"

Lucrecia's voice fell silent. She slide down the shower wall and drew up her knees. After all this time, she had built such careful control of the scientist's memories, but now…

"Shelke?"

She cringed and got to her feet, turning off the shower so that she could be heard.

"What is it Vincent?"

"Dinner is ready; Cloud figured you'd be too tired to make it."

She nodded to know one and wrapped a towel around herself before leaning out of the bathroom to see a fatigued Vincent. His blood red cloak had been removed leaving him in the smooth leather uniform he always wore. The top had been undone leaving his pale throat exposed. This was about as at home as Vincent usually made himself. "I will be out in a moment."

He nodded and turned to leave. When he turned his back, she flinched for seemingly no reason and called out to him.

"Vincent?"

Vincent looked back over his shoulder at her with a questioning expression. He seemed perfectly fine after his fainting spell and other then exhaustion. She didn't know why she felt the urge to stop him or what made her mouth move.

"It's nothing…"

His gaze held hers for a moment before continued to walk away. Shelke continued to dry off and got dressed.

Dinner was like always involving comfortable silence among the three of them. Shelke only spoke at the beginning of dinner letting Cloud know what was due this month and what things they needed from Edge. Other than that, they ate quietly. It wasn't until Shelke politely excused herself from the table that Cloud spoke.

"I make the last delivery tomorrow morning before dawn. After that, we'll head off to Edge and stock up before we leave for the Lost Capital."

"We'll get an early start then?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Tseng requested I meet him in Edge tomorrow, to talk."

Cloud's eyes narrowed distrustfully. "Don't tell me you've given in?"

Vincent's stare was answer enough.

"Then what is it?" Cloud pried.

Vincent leaned back in his chair. "The only thing Tseng was willing to share was that something has happened to Reno and that they need my help. It has nothing to do with ShinRa."

"You agreed?"

"He didn't leave it open for discussion. I figured I'd grant the courtesy to hear him out and if I don't like it, I'll just leave."

"Then I'll go with you."

Vincent's brow arched before he could control his expression. "Why?"

"I don't trust them, Vincent. I know that they're doing the best they can to help the people of Edge but the idea of the Turks, of ShinRa, having anything to do with one of my friends...I can't help but get suspicious."

"I understand your sentiment; but I highly doubt that is what will happen. I'm only going to listen and then leave."

"Are you going to help them if it's not a trap?"

Ah he got it now. The blonde was concerned with his well being, even though it as completely unnecessary. There were only four Turks, only three of them were _real _Turks and one of those _real_ Turks was missing. That was simply and unfair fight with him by himself much less him bringing Cloud. But the way the blonde gauged his reaction to his words gave him pause. There were times where Cloud's eyes would blank to an almost calculating expression. He would gaze at some people like that sometimes without realizing it and it would intimidate them. Sometimes even making things go in his favor. Vincent realized he'd been receiving this look more and more as if Cloud was trying to turn him inside out with that stare so that he could know how Vincent thought. He wondered how Cloud would feel if he told him that that was stare developed by a harden killers.

"If it is something plausible then I will give it _consideration_," he said and saw Cloud's shoulders tense. There was one thing about him that wasn't like a killer; he hadn't learned to control his emotions. He supposed it was only natural since he had only recently begun to be open.

"I don't like it, Vincent," he murmured shaking his head. "I'm going to go with you in case they try something you haven't thought of yet."

His voice was final and he continued to eat. Vincent let the corner of his mouth quirk in an almost smile. So much for keeping it within the Turks.

-------

The next morning found Vincent still asleep which wasn't like him. He dreamed which wasn't like him. In this dream he was on the hill outside the Shinra Mansion where he and Lucrecia shared their spring lunches together. Something was wrong though. Lucrecia was not there like she normally was and the scenery was not as he remembered it. The tree he used to doze under had rotted and became nothing more than a skeleton of its former self. The hill was barren of its wonderful wild flowers and only dying grass as the memory of the beautiful place. He sat there and saw a girl coming up the hill. She wore a white patterned skirt with a loose white shirt and very red sweater. Her hair as an array of blue-black curls pulled away from her round face in a pony-tail and a set of round glasses that Vincent vaguely recognized in his memory. He could see her lips pressed in a thin line as if there was something she was holding back. She paused when she saw him, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"Vincent..." she trailed off. "Does it hurt terribly?"

"No," Vincent found himself saying as if he really knew what she was talking about. A slight twinge of pain made him instinctively touch his clawed arm. Oh... "I've…gotten use to it."

"That's good. I'm glad that you decided to wake up. It was never your fault and I'm glad you accept that there was nothing you could do but…" her voice lowered as if something was constricting her throat. "It hurts now…it hurts here." She touched her shoulder.

"Why?"

She shook her head and fell to her knees, the twigs tearing her stockings. Out of reflex, Vincent went to help her but she held her hand up. Her glasses fell to the ground shattering and she began to convulse. Vincent stepped back uncertain of what was happening to her. She looked up at him with startling blue that bled to jade green; the color of mako…the color of all calamity. Blood trailed from her hairline and eyes and mouth and she let out a sob.

"Vincent, don't! You can't fight them!"

The ex-Turk felt a presence behind him. Hand lightening quick to his Cerberus, he whipped around and was stopped dead. A claw was through his shoulder, exactly where the girl had touched her own shoulder. The pain was horrible but that wasn't what made him freeze. He was staring down into a set of beautiful brown eyes and sweet face. But the smile was any thing but sweet.

"Lu…crecia…?"

Her smile widened and her eyes darkened. "Vincent…right?"

A dark shadow began to grow behind her. Red and purple arches of electricity flowed through the formless specter and as it grew it began to take shape. Vincent's eyes widened as Chaos smirked down at him from Lucrecia's shadow.

"VINCENT!"

"Vincent, wake up!"

Cloud gasped when Vincent's clawed hand snatched him by the throat and slammed him down on the bed. Vincent was immediately on top of him, pinning him to the bed using his body weight and the claw around his neck. It squeezed painfully tight cutting off the oxygen to his body and nearly crushing his windpipe. Vincent glared down at him through redden eyes that quickly bled to amber. The man above him gave an animalistic growl and Cloud was able to see needle sharp fangs that Vincent often tried to hide when he spoke. Vincent's added weight on his chest and the artificial hand choking him was causing him to lose consciousness. He had to do something quick.

"Sorry for this!" He choked out before using all his strength to give Vincent a hard right hook. The ex-Turk was knocked off of him and the bed causing him to hit the floor with a crash. Cloud was up and off the bed as fast as he could but this possessed Vincent was faster. As soon as he found his feet he was off them again and pinned against the wall. Vincent lifted him off the floor so that they were eye level, keeping an even tighter hold on the blonde. He chuckled darkly as he leaned close to Cloud's face.

"**You must be Cloud,"** he said in a dark voice. **"It's a pleasure."**

"Who…are you…" Cloud strained to say as he fought the grip on his neck.

"**Soul wrought of Terra corrupt; I am the harbinger of death for some and far more volatile than the so called Calamity." **He laughed. **"But you, my dear Cloud, know me as Chaos, Vincent's inner demon."**

Cloud groaned on a particularly hard squeeze, his eyes fluttering. "I can't…"

"**Of course…I'd hate to kill you too quickly." **After that he loosened his grip. The demon leaned close to him, using Vincent's face to nuzzle his jaw. There was a charge of something...something like electricity that made Cloud shudder and called out to the very core of him. It told him just how ancient a demon Chaos was. **"Oh yes," **the demon moaned. **"You'll do. You're the last carrier of the Nightmare which means I can use you."**

"What are you-" Cloud's eyes widened as the demon forcefully pressed their lips together. He went to shove the monster off but found that his body had stopped cooperating with him. Small shocks of power pass through him from Vincent's mouth like volts that threaten to burn him from the inside out. The hand on his throat let go and Vincent used his body to support him against the wall as Cloud slowly began to respond. Cloud's blue eyes dulled from the sudden sensations that borderline on carnal pleasure. They rolled back when the demon's tongue invaded his mouth. How many times had he thought about Vincent doing this to him? How many nights had he wondered just what the gunner tasted like? But this, this was wrong, wasn't it. It wasn't Vincent…it wasn't.

_**Let me in, my beautiful phoenix. Let me see what power you hold that keeps the Nightmare at bay.**_

Cloud cringed and moaned into the demon's mouth as all his memories seemed to flood forward, each one being examined like a film record. Then…they reached his memories of Sephiroth. It was then he tried to struggle, tried to fight. Vincent had to pin him against the wall once again to keep his hold on the blonde. His personal memories of his last fight with Sephiroth vividly came forward. He could almost feel the Masamune tearing him apart and then it all went black. All he could see was the Nightmare himself standing there with his hand outstretched to him and the uncontrollable urge to go to him. His eyes snapped open revealing jade green eyes slit like viper eyes. His hands grabbed Vincent using him for leverage. He brought his feet up and shoved both of them into Vincent's stomach successfully getting the demon off of him. The first thing he did was secure a hold on Vincent's body.

"VINCENT! I know you're in there! Fight it!"

The demon smirked and looked up at Cloud. **"He can't hear you where he is. But don't worry, I've learned what I needed. You can have this body….for now."**

With those final words, Vincent's eyes flashed bright before returning to normal. They gazed unfocused at him and Vincent gasped as though he had just come up from drowning. Cloud watched him until those crimson orbs cleared and they stared up at the blonde with a surprised look.

"Vincent? Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Your…your eyes…"

Cloud blinked and looked up at the full length mirror that had come with the room. His appearance was rough as it should be but his eyes frightened him. Their green tinge made his heart pound and he wanted to bolt but couldn't. His body wouldn't move until his mind processed what he was seeing in that glass. He felt Vincent shift beneath him and he looked down.

"I'd appreciate it if you got off me, Cloud."

-----

Reno stared blankly at the ceiling. His head was pounding from the sever blows that he'd taken to it. Blood was streaming down his neck and was staining his hair darker than red. That Tsu-Li had come back to taunt him but he gave as good as he got, driving the Wutai bitch to physically assaulting him. He'd fought her but being one with quite a few injuries that hadn't healed yet, Reno had lost. Still he was pretty satisfied that he'd busted her plump little lips before she laid one across his face. Now he sat there with his nose bleeding and the bruises on his face slowly fading away. She had been right, he'd lied to quite a few people at ShinRa including the big man Rufus himself. Only the people that counted knew anything about him so he wasn't sure what that chick's deal was with reminding him of his dishonesty. He was fucking Turk; dishonesty was on the payroll. Must be a Wutai honor thing…he guessed. Whatever.

He closed his eyes so that he could get some rest hoping he'd get that other guy to guard him instead of the stiletto psycho that wanted nothing more than make him bleed. His body slouched getting as comfortable as he could on the dirt floor. Just as he began drifting off so that his wounds could heal quicker, a surge hit him straight in his chest and his eyes popped open. He couldn't even hold back that surprise gasp that erupted from his throat. Careful not to agitate his sore neck, he turned to the only window in the cell and peaked out at the morning sun rising to the horizon. That feeling made his limbs tingle all the way down to his fingertips. Not having the drive to dwell on it, Reno carefully turned his head back straight and rested it against the stone wall.

"_Reno?" _Tseng's soft voice came into his ears.

"I'm here, yo." he said drowsily.

There was a pause, like the director was trying to collect his thoughts. Reno's lips curled. "Yeah I know, right."

"_He meets us this morning. You don't have much longer to put up with this."_

"Mm…shot of whiskey sounds good right now, yo..." Reno murmured his consciousness fading.

"_Reno." _Tseng's voice firm.

"Yo!" Reno's eyes snapped open again. "Sorry, Boss, I got one too many kicks to the head…I'm getting a little sleepy."

"_You have a concussion. Stay awake."_

Reno didn't respond as he slid down further, the dizziness overpowering him.

"_Reno?"_

"Yo?" he barely whispered. "I'm here..."

"_Reno!"_

"…yo…?" He breathed out before the darkness drug him down.

Tseng turned off the com link knowing that Reno was no longer there. He looked at Rude who was being released from the hospital this morning. The tall dark man straightened his tie in the small mirror the nurse provided him and slid his shades onto his face. Tseng stood brushing his hair behind his ear. It had gotten longer in four years and while he kept most of it tied back in a low ponytail, small strands still managed to get in his eyes.

"I've lost communication with Reno."

Rude went on unaffected and turned to him. "Lost his com link?"

"He's unconscious. He tells me they're still beating him and he's taken too many head blows. We may need to hurry before Reno dies with the information we need."

"You mean he didn't tell you?" the dark man smirked. "That sounds like Reno."

"Withholding the information we need in order to insure his rescue," Tseng almost smiled. "Reno can be very tactical when he wants to be."

"Did he feel the surge too?"

"He indicated that he did. Hopefully, Valentine will come to us of sound mind."

Rude nodded and opened the door for his superior. Tseng walked out of the door ahead of him, the cold hallway air catching the wisps of his hair. Rude followed him silent as usual. They checked Rude out completely and made sure to take all the records and their copies with them. Outside Rude met Elena's relieved gaze.

"Good to see you're alright, Senpai."

He made an affirming sound and climbed into the car with his fellow Turks. Inside, behind all the silence, he was glad Reno was smart enough to not get killed during the predicted kidnapping. Hopefully he had something useful and the enemy had not beaten the information out of his head. He glanced and Tseng who sat with his legs crossed in a business like manor; he was on another disposable phone probably calling for Valentine again. Rude took the initiative to raise the limo's window so the Elena would not eavesdrop as they drove. Tseng gave him an approving glance. It wasn't that they didn't like Elena; it was quite the opposite. She was often a breath of fresh air and could be as cut throat as they were but she wasn't like them. She had come on to the Turks during the Sephiroth conflict and therefore did not have to go through full initiation. Rufus didn't even know what that initiation was; hell, he didn't know much about the Turks when he inherited them from his father. All he made of them was hardcore thugs and had not taken the time to learn much else. He flung them around like hired muscle rather than the professional and _intelligent _force they were and they were a force, even with only four members. Rufus didn't take the time to notice much outside of his own illusion of total control and therefore did not acknowledge the Turks as anything more than lackeys. Which was why Tseng ran as much of ShinRa as Rufus did because if Tseng gave full control over to the spoiled young president, he wouldn't know what to do with it all.

"Vincent Valentine?" Tseng gave a look of surprise and then it turned into an amused smile. "Strife, nice to hear from you. Might I ask why you are answering Valentine's phone?" a long pause. "I see…so he's told you of our meeting." Pause. "I _would_ try to assure you that nothing, as you said, 'sleazy' is going on but I know for a fact that it isn't in your nature to trust us." Silence. "Are you sure you want to make that kind of decision, Strife." There was a long pause before Tseng actually chuckled. "Of course, then we will see you both when you get to Edge. We'll be waiting on the old highway out of Midgar near sector 7. I'll be happy to explain then and let Valentine know that I called for him."

Tseng closed the phone and gracefully flung it out the window. He relaxed against the seat of the car and closed his obsidian eyes.

"Fortune is in our favor this morning," he murmured. "They are both coming. Not even the president could get them to act as such."

Rude continued to look out the window giving no hint of the relief he felt now the he knew that they weren't doing this alone. After all, Tseng could talk a good game and his tongue was pure silver. Cloud and Vincent would be helping whether they realized it yet or not.

---------

Akino: This came out fairly well. Writing the Turk characters came a lot more natural than writing Cloud and Shelke but I'm getting better. Next: **Reunion. **Hopefully we can get some action in at some point! XD PLEASE REVIEW! they fuel my fire no matter how short ^ ^


	3. Chapter 3: Reunion

_She's crying…_

_Dark laughter filled his head. __**Wonder why? What did big bad Hojo do to our little sparrow?**_

_Sparrow? Why sparrow?_

_She sat next to him in the middle of the night. Her hair was held up right by a dark crimson scarf that matched her blood red sweater. The excess fabric was lying against her shoulders. Her glasses lay near his shoulder and her hands were covering her face._

"_This…this mission is lasting far too long…I…can take all kinds of torture but…I'm scared for my child. Why did he want to do that? I keep thinking, oh god, what if it dies." she sighed trying not to show her pain and touched her stomach gently. "Vincent…I can't leave you. I want to…no I need to get you out of here. Before something happens to me or to this life inside of me..__."_

_He heard her sob then. "I'm not like her! I would never allow anyone to do something so cruel to my child but he…"_

_Vincent turned his head, finding his body easier to move. Helena had not allowed him to be fully drugged and he was able to use his body though he couldn't talk yet. He moved his artificial hand attempting to control the movements in his claw like fingers. It hurt like hell but he wanted to move, he wanted to touch her. She lifted her head just as his golden claws had reached her cheek. It was accidental; he didn't mean it but the damage was done quickly. She gasped when his sharp index finger pierced her cheek and blood flowed freely. He flinched believing he'd hurt her but her smile told him otherwise. She took his clawed hand between her own and kissed the top of it. He couldn't feel it and he was sure she knew that._

"_Does it hurt terribly?"_

_He managed a small nod._

_Her smile turned sad. "It won't hurt much longer. Just give it time, Vincent." She paused staring at something on his head. "Oh no…that night you turned into Hellmasker…it must be hard to heal since it was self inflicted. Here…" she stood and untied the crimson scarf from her hair letting all her beautiful curls down from their ponytail. She carefully wrapped the scarf around his head. "There….that should do for now."_

_It felt heavy and was thicker than it looked but its warmth made him feel better. She smiled at him._

"_It suits you."_

_

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**Final Fantasy VII: Crimson Sins**

**The Turks**

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**Chapter Three: Reunion**

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Tifa had become much more beautiful since she'd hit her late twenties. Her body was still toned but fuller since the carriage of two children. Her dark brown hair spread around her as she lay across the bed in one of his uniform shirts. Rude figured she must have been lonely and worried about him; that was the only time she'd pull one on. She said the scent made her feel better on those long missions. He sat on the bed and caressed her arm gently making a smile cross her face in sleep. He had always had a crush on her from the first time he saw, well, fought her. Strong hands and a well built body was something Rude appreciated. Those hands could kill but at the same time offer the gentleness of a good woman. Tifa was everything he'd ever wanted in a woman; patient, kind but willing to knock him down when he got out of hand. When she had said yes, he almost had a heart attack but he never let it show on his face. Three years later after the 'I do' he still loved her.

"mm," she sighed. "You're late."

He chuckled. "How are the kids?"

"Sara's teething, and Tamil found out how to use the materia. He almost set the bar on fire yesterday," she explained her eyes still comfortably closed. "You stayin'?"

Rude didn't answer and carefully lay beside her so that he wouldn't wrinkle his suit. He hugged her close around her waist and slid a hand comfortably to her breast, massaging it. It was a habit he'd developed just for her after she'd had Tamil and she complained about them being sore. She giggled ad snuggled against him.

"You're wearing your uniform, so I guess you aren't staying. Make sure you lock up after you leave," she whispered snuggling into her pillow. "I love you."

Rude leaned over and kissed her ear before rising from the bed and straightening his suit. He brushed her cheek one more time before exiting the room. There was one thing good about Tifa that was never true with any of the women he'd been with, she never asked questions. She trusted him to go out and do what he needed to do and come back in one piece. He knew she hadn't always been like that but after the trouble with the Remnants, she realized that it was no good to question everything that the people she loved did. Her relationship with Cloud improved because of it. Tifa was the best thing that could've happened to him and if he had to, he'd mutilate anyone who hurt her with his bare hands.

He went downstairs where Denzel was helping Marlene with getting the bar ready for opening at sunrise. Like most bars in edge they didn't serve alcohol until one in the afternoon, so Marlene had taken up cooking breakfast and lunch for the day laborers who passed through. He nodded to them on his way out of the bar receiving a wave from Marlene and a nod from Denzel. The kid was becoming more and more like Cloud by the day. As promised he locked the door behind him. He got in the car seeing Tseng eying him with amusement.

"How was Tifa?"

"Exhausted."

Tseng smiled only a little. "I'll be sure to send her flowers for taking you away from her."

"She wouldn't appreciate that, sir."

--------

Vincent was slightly confused by the incident that morning. He had woken with Cloud sitting on top of him with his eyes practically infected with Jenova cells. He explained over and over that he didn't hear her voice and that no one had been controlling him. According to Cloud, he'd had a nightmare and had attacked Cloud when he tried to wake him. He remembered having the nightmare about that woman and Lucrecia but he didn't remember how he'd wound up beneath Cloud. If he truly attacked him, then he was sorry and said as much but the blonde had waved him off. He was too concerned about his eyes, hoping that it wouldn't become a problem.

He stood in shower washing away the nightmares and thinking about who that woman was. All he had was her face and a few scarce memories. Her name was right there on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't call it out; memory wouldn't let him. He heard his phone ring in the other room and chose to ignore it believing it to be Yuffie. She was the only one who called at ungodly hours. Instead he went along with washing his hair, closing his eyes so that the soap wouldn't get in them. The phone was still ringing up until he started rinsing and was surprised to hear Cloud answer it.

"No, Tseng, its Cloud." Pause. "He's busy at the moment. I want to know what you and ShinRa want with him." Pause. "Yea, he told me about it. What sleazy plot you have for him this time?" pause. "You would be right. And because of that, I'm going wherever you need Vincent to go." Silence. "Don't patronize me, Tseng. I may not have been SOLDIER but I did work for ShinRa. I know what kind of things that the Turks get into and I know about your history. Don't think I'd let Vincent go in blind. He may be strong but the Turks, you especially Tseng, know too much about us for you not to be able to trap us." Cloud waited for Tseng to finish. "Right." He slammed the phone shut.

Vincent stood in the door way, towel around his waist and one drying his hair. His torso was exposed showing multiple scars and surgical cuts decorating moon-pale skin. To his surprise there was muscle on that lean body; a set of toned abs looked almost out of place on his skinny body but added to the appeal. His arms weren't bony as Cloud had first thought but had a good amount of muscle to them. He wasn't built like a fighter but rather an athlete, body ready to adjust to all forms of situation. His hair, which admittedly had grown too long and he hadn't ask for it to be cut, touched his waist in silky wispy strands. Now that it was wet, it clung to his shoulders and face giving Vincent a softer look than he normally had. It was then Cloud realized that he'd never seen Vincent with no clothing. Any time the man came home he remained fully clothed and even slept in pajamas. Cloud was happy that his eyes only lingered for an unnoticeable moment.

"What did Tseng want?"

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you heard. He was calling to make sure we showed up to the meeting."

Vincent continued to dry his hair and walked past Cloud to the armoire to get clothing. He felt Cloud's eyes on him as he pulled his usual black attire from it, careful to tear the fabric with his gauntlet. He didn't want to comment on this being one of the very few times Cloud actually stayed in his room for longer than a minute. After all, Cloud hated being near that accursed entrance to the basement.

"You don't have to come, Cloud. It doesn't have anything to do with you."

"And I already told you that it didn't matter, Vincent. I'm going."

Vincent shook his head and got dressed. He wasn't even going to try and understand what the blonde thinking or why he was so concern. It wasn't worth dwelling on in his opinion. Besides, it was too early to argue, the sun hadn't even come up.

---------

Elena wouldn't admit she was upset. She held tightly to the wheel of the limo holding in her anger. She was dropping them off on the Midgar highway and was to leave as soon as Vincent and Cloud showed up. While her two superiors stood outside the car talking in quiet voices, she rested her forehead against the wheel. They said that this was something that she didn't have to worry about. How could they? Reno had been kidnapped by god knows who and Rude had nearly been beat to death but she wasn't allowed anymore information other than that they would take care of it. They still treated her with kid gloves, like she was still a rookie. Elena wasn't stupid; she was slow on the uptake but not stupid. Because she knew she couldn't figure things out as quickly as the others, she'd made it her business to learn everything she could and be smarter, faster, and more strategic so that she could keep up. Still, even after proving her loyalty and skill for over seven years, they still left her out of a lot of things. She groaned because she couldn't stay mad. In her mind, she knew what they were doing; they were protecting her. But didn't they get it; didn't they understand that she didn't need to be protected?

Tseng glanced at his watch seeing that it was almost eleven and was about to make another call with a spare phone when he heard the roar of Fenrir's engine. He tapped on the window to signal for Elena to leave. He barely noticed the furious glare she'd shot him. The car started and she burned off. Rude spared a glance at the tire marks left behind.

"She's upset," he said nonchalantly.

"We'll deal with her later."

Cloud waited for Vincent to dismount before hitting the kickstand and getting off. He was amazed they made it there on time considering they had a late start after the incident with Chaos. They had parked on the other side of the highway away from the awaiting Turks and had to walk across. Cloud found his eyes wondering to the way Vincent walked away from him, the morning wind picking up his hair and making his cloak move about in the wind. He swore that thing was alive sometimes but never commented on it. He loved how Vincent looked when he walked; the way he commanded authority in each step while his body remained slightly tensed, ready to pull Cerberus out at any given point in time. Huh, he was starting to notice a pattern in the men he found himself attracted to. After that brief admiration he turned cautious eyes to the Turks in front of them. Rude stood with his hands held in front of him. He no longer feared the tall dark man since he'd married Tifa and knew that he would do nothing to upset her. So his real concern was the Wutain man who eyed him just as carefully as he did. Tseng was and always would be a threat in Cloud's eyes because he knew nothing about the man. He'd never seen Tseng fight, never seen the man shoot anyone, never saw the man kill and that bothered Cloud. He didn't know what to expect from the director and that made the man deadly in his opinion. Briefly he wondered where Elena had gotten to.

Vincent stopped a small distance away from Tseng while Cloud tilted his head slightly to look at Rude from beneath his bangs. "I'm here, as you asked so explain."

"If we had the time, I'd thank you for coming with flowery words but I lost communication with Reno this morning. I'm a bit pressed for time, so I'll be direct."

Vincent crossed his arms and waited.

"Since we are still low on manpower, the order was passed down for us to explore the ruins beneath Midgar. We were to check for any other survivors of the Omega incident and to insure that they never made it to the surface."

"Deep Ground," Vincent said softly.

"Yes, Deep Ground. We did a data dump on all the computers and digital storage in the facility but as we did so, we unsuspectingly were attacked."

"Figures," Cloud murmured.

Tseng cut his eyes at Cloud. "When I say unsuspectingly, I mean that this was an organized attack. Someone knew we were going to come there, on that day at that specific time and once we did the data dump, they attacked. We managed to hold them off and escape but when we returned to ShinRa HQ, the storage device we used to retrieve the data was empty. We went back to Deep Ground after that and found that the computers had been completely destroyed."

"So they made sure you left empty handed," Vincent shook his head. "Any idea who they were."

"We do; Reno managed to obtain a certain case file from over thirty years ago about scientific project being researched in various rural parts of the world. Though some of it was damaged or missing, we were able to conclude valuable information from it. "

"How'd he get the file?" the blonde asked curiously.

Tseng shook his head. "Not sure; Reno claims he stumbled across it. How he got it at the moment is inconsequential, the point is that it provided us with the identity of two dead scientists and a project called Asgard. It contained the scientific names and photos of several test subjects that were a part of it. The ones that attacked us were test subjects. One named Tsu-li who was also called 'Freya' and a large man named Barrel also known as 'Thor.' These are the only two we know of that are alive. They are pet projects born through the same method as Sephiroth, Wiess, and Nero. They are the product of injecting tainted Mako into unborn fetuses."

Vincent closed his eyes, ready to push away the memories of Lucrecia but she was not the one he thought of. He thought of the woman from his dream, bleeding out all over that grassy hill.

"_You can't fight them!"_

Vincent flinched but hid it well and opened his eyes. "So, these are Mako enhanced warriors from birth, no wonder you had so much trouble."

"What is it you want us to help you with?" Cloud said noticing the tension in Vincent's shoulders.

"We need to get Reno back from them and ascertain who exactly we are dealing with."

"Why is this something that you couldn't inform the president of?" Vincent asked.

"Because, project Asgard is to us as the Tsviets were to SOLDIER. They are our elite and should be taken out accordingly."

Cloud shook his head a bit. Vincent didn't blame him at all. The blonde may not have been a Turk or anything of the lot, but he could smell a rat. There was something Tseng was not saying and they both knew it. Tseng seemed too closed off about the entire thing to say he wanted to get someone to help him and Rude had not offered anything, not that he was expected to. Vincent looked between the two Turks and turned to walk away, Cloud following darn near simultaneously.

Tseng watched them for a moment, noting the similar way they moved and smiled. "I see that you could not be fooled. I apologize for withholding information but I had to know that you weren't going too soft about this. You both seem to have a bit of a Hero Complex and I rather you didn't rush in without knowing anything. Would you like to know the names of the scientists involved in the Asgard project?"

Vincent stopped and Cloud stopped a step ahead of him giving him a questioning look. The ex-Turk looked back over his shoulder at Tseng. "Why would it matter at this point?"

"Because, the scientist involved are Lucrecia Crescent and Helena Nobel."

Vincent stood stock still for a log moment before turning and facing Tseng with narrowed red eyes. "You are digging up things that I have made my peace with."

Tseng brushed a stray strand of hair from his face as if the conversation was no longer important. "I doubt you've made your peace with this. Lucrecia's research and Omega report are her starting points for the Asgard project. She apparently performed this research after she disappeared from Nibelheim leaving Sephiroth under Hojo's jurisdiction."

"What are you talking about? Lucrecia sealed herself away after Hojo took her child."

"Apparently that is not the case," Tseng said smoothly. "These files and reports are dated and signed six years after her reported resignation from the Sephiroth project."

"She…resigned…?"

Cloud watched the stray emotions flash across Vincent's ruby eyes. They were subtle and would not have been visible if he hadn't been living with the man for the past few years. That bastard Tseng had struck a hard cord in Vincent that had been pulled taut for decades. Shit.

"All I ask is that you aid us in retrieving Reno and discovering the purpose of the Asgards."

When the taller man looked at him, Cloud already knew his decision. No matter what he said, Vincent would go and take on another piece of his fragmented past. All Cloud could do was shrug, leaving the decision up to him. He knew that Vincent would go and he knew that he would follow. So much for going to the Capital and getting away from it all.

"We'll go, but," he inflected before Tseng could relax. "If I find out that this is all a trick then, Turk loyalty aside, you will _all_ find yourselves on the wrong end of my Death Penalty."

Cloud actually smirked because there was no part of that threat that _wasn't_ true.

-----

"I think you over did it, Tsu-li."

"Disgusting rat had it coming to him!"

"Yeah but if he's not conscious then we can't get anything out of him. Mom'll be mad!"

"It doesn't matter," Tsu-Li snapped. "She will tell us what to do from here."

"Do you think she already knows what that they'll come for him?"

Tsu-Li shrugged and looked down at her comrade who was crouched on the floor. The boy was barely five feet tall with silver hair mussed all over his head defying gravity. The only pieces that obeyed rules were his long bangs that touched his jaw line, leaving the rest in a fluff at the back of his head. His Mako green eyes peered through the bars at the unconscious Turk. Around his wrist was the real danger, a steel gauntlet that held two small spheres of materia set within it. One was very green almost the same color as his eyes while the other was of the purest obsidian. It was black like a tainted soul and swirled with power making Tsu-li shiver when she looked at it. How could their leader trust him, a child, with something like that? It made her flinch every time he stretched his hand in the gauntlet and touch the material earrings in her ears. She wondered how far they would take her against the kid. He stood up and looked at her barely coming to her shoulder. She tried to hide the hatred in her eyes as he studied her.

"I'll watch him tonight, Tsu-Li. Find the Nobel woman as mother has told you to."

Tsu-Li scoffed at him but left him. He made sure she was gone before he approached the bars. His catlike eyes watched the rise and fall of Reno's chest as he rested. This was no good, how would Reno tell them what he knew if he forgot it all from his injuries. He took the key and opened the door to the cell, walking up to his unconscious prisoner. He held out his metal covered hand and flexed his fingers so that the device activated. The green material was pushed to the front and into a small slot on the top of his hand. The power began to circulate through his arm and he could hear the voices of the Planet within the small ball.

"Heal!"

Reno was engulfed in the soft green light and what was left of his wounds was repaired instantly. His eyes snapped open, still alight with Mako, and he instantly attacked the kid. The boy was fast and dodged letting Reno run passed him. The redhead laughed and escaped through the door finding amusement at the kid's shocked expression. He slammed the cell door shut and locked it tight.

"Thanks, yo," Reno said with smirk. "You really should retire that hair color; all it's gonna get you is buster sword up your ass, buddy. Peace, yo!"

The redhead was gone before he could blink. The boy shook his head and walked to the cage door, kicking it off the hinges with a smile. The phone in the pocket of his cargo pants went off and he dug it out.

"Mom…yes, he's loose in the building….no one knows…don't worry; I'll make it believable." He sighed. "Mom…what was…never mind, I'll be trailing the Turk. Understood…I lo-"

He heard dial tone before he could finish. He took a deep breath and took off after Reno.

-----

Akino: Thank you all for the great review I've gotten so far. Next chapter is going to be the actually rescue of our favorite redhead. I'm going to make it so that you can actually witness Tseng in a fight cause throughout all of final fantasy VII that I've seen, the guy hasn't lifted a finger. And anyone who is a fan of Elena don't worry, she'll get her chance though I'm afraid you all might hate me for it.

So questions to be eventually answered:

Why did Reno have that file?

What the hell was up with Lucrecia not disappearing like we originally thought?

And who the *bleep* is that kid who looks like a Cloud/Sephiroth love child? XD

Best of all, is Chaos really back and what does he want with Cloud?

All in due time. ^_^ Please review! And sry about spelling errors, I never keep up with betas so I kind stopped bothering. _ Now I just correct them as I see them because I'm constantly re-reading as I go in order to keep up consistency. This is actually getting complex for a fanfic.


	4. Chapter 4: Blood Soaked Part One

_A whole year, that's what she'd told him last time. It was the anniversary of when she first signed on to intern with Hojo. But it wasn't something to celebrate neither that night nor this afternoon when she came to him. She was tired, that much he could tell. Her face was careworn and her eyes were glazed over from an extreme weariness. That was the face of someone wearing down. The same face his beautiful Lucrecia developed when experimentation on her baby begun. Her pretty dark azure eyes were aglow from what he __**knew**__ was Mako. Hojo had gotten a hold of her again and she was growing weak. He was sitting up today, barely awake but had strength to remain upright. Hojo had not sedated him as he normally did because he was still not a threat to the Professor's life. The experimentation had gotten crueler and Vincent was not put under as often as he should have. He was left awake during the cutting and dissecting._

"_Good afternoon, Vincent," she said breathlessly with a tired smile. It was genuine as always, though he could never understand why she felt the need to smile around him. He couldn't help her and therefore was not worth keeping company. She sat down in her usual chair next to him._

"_I'm…I'm leaving tonight, Vincent," she said softly, tears running down her cheeks. "I…can't do this in anymore. Tonight, you'll receive Death Gigas, and after that I will come and take you out of here. In the morning, Turk operatives will escort you and I away from here and Hojo will never find us again."_

_Vincent tilted his head. "I…will stay with you…" he managed to say through a dry unused throat._

_Her eyes were wide with surprise and she nodded. She got up from her chair and wrapped her arms lovingly around him. He wasn't sure what emotion he felt for her; it wasn't love or rather it wasn't a romantic form of love. No, this was a sort of love shared between two people who know suffering and shared a want for freedom. They were to be each others' stepping stones. That's what he thought and he knew that if they escaped he would stay with her. Carefully, he placed his clawed hands on her stomach and gave her a questioning look. Her beautiful blues dulled and she placed her hand over his clawed one._

_She whispered with tears falling down her cheeks so only he could hear. "…it…__**she**__…is dead, Vincent."_

_

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_

**Final Fantasy VII: Crimson Sins**

**The Turks**

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**Chapter Four: Blood Soaked – Part One**

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Reno leaned over the railing to spy on the people below him. This was some kind of mineral lab; he'd seen a lot of him during his years with ShinRa. It was places like this in which artificial materia was invented. There were people down there, not fighters or militant, just people. Some had guns meaning they were some form of militia. Okay, militia he could handle. Militia meant they had no clue how to work solidly as a unit; they were just in it for either the glory or the money. Whatever the case, Reno didn't feel like he was in any real danger here. He stayed low and crossed the cat walk without being seen. If he was as smart as he knew he was, he didn't have much time. That kid was probably tailing his ass right now but it was obvious he wanted him to see. Yeah, definitely wasn't stupid.

He made his way past numerous white coats walking around and found what appeared to be the control room. It overlooked the entire ground floor and he was able to do a much better reconnaissance from there. The white coats were directing the militia in bringing in large crystals with what looked like spectral creatures trapped inside. His eyes widened when he saw into one of the Mako crystals being unloaded. Reno bit his lip making sure he saw everything there was to see in this place before he bailed.

"Not good, not good, not good, yo!" he whispered. He reached out to touch his com link so that he could contact Tseng. "Yo! Tseng! Can you hear me?!"

"_Reno? You're conscious."_

"Yeah, yeah, glad you were worried. Look, don't bring Valentine here."

"_What? Where are you?" _

Reno cursed at the interfering static. "I said don't bring Valentine, yo! In fact don't come at all. It's too fucked up here, Tseng! Tseng!"

"_I….barely hear…..don't br…. what?"_

"Dammint, Tseng, listen-AH!"

A blast of electricity nearly burnt his ear off and completely fried his com-link. He looked back angrily at the silver haired kid that stood in the doorway. He had his hand outstretched with the gauntlet still tingling with the Thunder that had been cast. Reno cursed as he yanked the earpiece out before it caused anymore damage.

"Ready?" he asked with a smirk on his cherub face.

"Oh come on, you're all of what? Twelve? Just who the hell are you, kid?" Reno growled. "You another Sephiroth?"

The boy paused at the sound of that name. "Sephiroth? My name is Ndale," he laughed. "I'm nothing like that loser!"

On the last word, he attacked Reno pulling a gun out of nowhere and blowing a few hairs from Reno's mane.

"Whoa, kid's packin'!" Reno shouted as he threw himself to the side and ran at the kid knocking him off his feet.

As soon as his back hit the ground, Ndale kangaroo kicked Reno hard enough for the redhead to hit the ceiling. Reno landed crouched on the ground flinching at the pain in his back. Dang, kid packed a punch. He swept the boy off his feet and made a dash for the door. A bullet shot by his head so close that it broke the elastic on his goggles. They snapped off without him noticing as he ran out across the catwalk. Ndale fired off a few rounds forcing Reno to turn in different directions to keep him from getting shot. He was a bit pissed that the little bastard was corralling him like cattle but he had no choice. It was either that or be shot. Somehow he knew the kid would do it. After all, you don't always die from being shot. Reno reached a maze of hallways and knocked over a few of the workers there. Kid didn't even hesitate to shoot around the bystanders. He hit a dead end. Shit! Oh well, he was tired of ducking and dodging anyway. He turned and looked at Ndale with an irritated expression. When he shot, Reno jumped up to the ceiling, using the loose tiles to pull him up and out of the way. He swung his body and aimed to kick him but his leg was grabbed and he was swung at the adjacent wall. Ndale brought his armored hand up and the green material was switched with another one.

"BURN!" he cried.

A wall of flame filled the hall encasing Reno within the fire. Ndale heard the Turk's screams and smirked as he watched the fire engulf the hall. Some of the workers screamed and ran from the attack; the alarm system went off and water poured over him and smothered the fire.

"I hope I didn't kill him," he murmured.

"Ya, know kid…"

Ndale growled and got in a fighting stance.

"For a minute, I thought you had me." The smoke began to drift away. "How are you gonna be better than Sephiroth; if you can't be little ole me, yo?"

Ndale gritted his teeth when he saw the redhead standing there casually, his hands in his pocket. His ruby hair lay around his shoulders in electrically charged wisps that stood up a little on end. His chartreuse eyes were glowing from a strong cocktail of adrenaline, power, and Mako. The red tattoos beneath them had stretched into two trails of red tears going down his cheeks Reno smirked at him and pulled his hand out of his pocket letting it stay beside him. Ndale watched the light green aura build around his hands and flexed his fingers so that the materia changed. Reno cut his eyes at it and grinned.

"You wanted to play with the big boys, kid," he cracked his knuckles. "Then let's play!"

Ndale drew his gun once more and fired but Reno avoided it and punched the kid straight in the jaw, a surge of power going through is arm and ending in an electrical burst in Ndale's face. He was sent backwards off his feet but continued to fire, a bullet grazing Reno's cheek and another hitting him in the shoulder. Reno didn't stop, he didn't even flinch, his eyes wild and predatory. Ndale landed with his back against the wall and Reno came at him without giving him a moment to breath. Ndale lifted his gauntlet covered hand blasting ice into the Turks face but it didn't faze him. In fact, he grabbed the kid's arm and bent it at a bad angle and swung the kid into one of the glass windows scaring the on lookers. Before he could recover Reno buried his foot in his spine making sure he heard something snap.

"Shit!" Ndale exclaimed at the pain in his back.

"Foul mouth, lil' fucker!" Reno laughed digging his heel into him.

The clicking of guns sounded off behind him. "Let him go right now!

"Yep, you're definitely not Sephiroth. He didn't need protection!" Reno snatched him and pointed his own gun at his temple. "Back off, tools, or the kid gets it. Heh, always wanted to say that, yo."

"Put him down, Turk!" one of them shouted.

"You won't do it!" Ndale growled. "You wouldn't kill a child."

"Kid, come on, I do this shit for a living," Reno smirked. "You think I wouldn't lay your scrawny ass away? The only thing I need you for is to get me out of here. After that you can kiss your Remnant ass goodbye." For emphasis, he cocked the gun. "Nice weight on this thing, by the way."

"You're nuts!" Ndale cried struggling.

"And you're two seconds from getting blasted if you don't tell them to back the fuck off, yo!"

Ndale cursed under his breath and looked at the gunmen. "Put your guns down. Let him go."

"Good boy, now let's take a walk." Reno backed out of the room dragging Ndale with him who still struggled.

"What are you doing? Let me go, they won't shoot."

"What part of 'do this for a livin' do you not get, yo?" Reno checked behind him to make sure he wasn't going to be ambushed. "I let you go, I'm full of holes! I'm not that stupid."

Ndale was quiet then and allowed himself to be dragged away from the gunmen. With a hand gesture that Reno didn't see, he motioned for them to let them leave.

----

Tseng gaze down at the com-link in his hand wondering if the worry was seeping through to his face. They were in the helicopter on their way to a remote area outside of Mideel. That was where the last signal from Reno was traced. Reno had been trying to tell them something vital but he couldn't catch it. There had been a lot of interference from Reno's end so he assumed his subordinate was underground and underground meant limited ways for the Turk to get out. He shook his head and looked at Rude who was concentrating on flying the copter. He looked back at Cloud and Vincent from the co-pilot seat. Cloud was seated with his arms crossed and head down, his massive Fusion Sword hung carefully on the weapons rack beside him. Vincent was in the same position except he was leaned back and gazing out the window at the passing clouds. They were both silent, each contemplating the coming threat though neither really knew what it was.

"I've lost all contact with Reno. Either he's unconscious or doesn't have a means to report in. whichever the case we will stick to the operation as planned."

Vincent continued to look out of the window. "You and Rude will take the front door to make sure they're all distracted while Cloud and I find a better way in and find Reno. Perhaps you should try to get extra information in case Reno was not able to retrieve anything solid."

"There is no need," Tseng said turning back to the front. "Reno's information gathering skills are better than any of ours and his memory is impeccable. He'll have everything we need by the time we get there."

Vincent's brow arched. "You trust his skill that much?"

"For reasons that are my own," Tseng replied and the conversation ended there.

It almost seemed as though they were speaking a whole different language, but Cloud noticed that neither of them mentioned the possibility that Reno was already dead. Was that arrogance on Tseng's part, or was he truly holding out hope for Reno's safety? Cloud hadn't even begun to understand the relationship among the Turks or why Vincent would even hold true to it when it was obvious he had no desire to rejoin their ranks. So, it was surprising to see how easily the gunman slipped back into it.

"Cloud?"

He lifted his head to look at Tseng who gave him a measuring gaze. "What?" he said a bit harshly.

"We're not friends, and we're barely allies," he said in a businesslike manner. "You don't have to come if you do not wish to."

"I-"

"But," Tseng cut him off. "Since you are, you need to know that while we may deal with two or three Mako enhanced soldiers, the majority of these I can guarantee are just people. People with guns but regular humans all the same and if need be, we _will_ be killing them."

The blonde didn't flinch at the statement but Tseng had trained enough rookies in his time to know that it had bothered him. This was the problem he had not wanted to run into. Cloud was a hero of the people, so to speak. His moral sensibilities only allowed him to kill threats of great magnitude like Sephiroth and his remnants. Tseng knew his history with ShinRa as an Infantry man training to get into SOLDIER. He had no kills on his record though his gunmanship and fighting skill was impressive during exercises. Cloud was the Boy Scout type and a person like that had no business with them. This was why he had to ask before the blonde did anything to get them killed.

"Are you sure you're willing to kill people who are just people?"

"I…"

"Tseng," Vincent's voice came out dark and commanding.

Tseng simply turned back around his seat. "It was a mere question, Valentine."

Cloud passed a glare at Vincent. He wasn't angry about the question or the fact that Vincent had pushed Tseng's attention off of him. He was angry because not only did he not have answer for Tseng, but Vincent was protecting him from answering. This was the first time that feeling out of place actually bothered him. He wasn't a Turk and didn't expect to be treated like one, but he wasn't a child either and didn't want to be treated like one while the "grown-ups" talked. Vincent didn't see the glare; instead he continued to stare out the window.

The two of them were dropped off a little over a mile away from the target sight so that the copter would not be heard. Cloud detached the blades and placed them in his harness while carrying First Tsurugi in his hand. Vincent made sure that the Cerberus was loaded and that the safety was off, before proceeding with Cloud following behind. It didn't take them long to cross the mile to behind the facility. It was cleverly disguised as old hotel and security were dressed as normal people who just so happen to be in the area. Cloud secretly thought that this reminded him of his first mission with Zack when they first met. He glanced at Vincent who was silently counting the soldiers. Without realizing it, Cloud had already done so. Two on the back porch, four spaced out across the yard and four in different points of the trees. An even number of men guarding a post? That didn't even sit right with him.

"Where's the seventh?" he thought out loud. "You never put an even amount of men on an outlook; so where is he?"

"Looking at us," Vincent replied calmly.

Cloud raised his eyes to where Vincent was looking and saw the glint of a gun in the window before he was shoved to the side. Vincent rolled in the opposite direction as a bullet hit the dirt between them. Cloud was on his feet and behind a tree where the bullets struck solid bark. Vincent was crouched low talking into the ear piece Tseng had given to each of them. Cloud heard his voice over the wavelength.

"Where's your distraction, Tseng?"

"_Didn't realize you would be discovered so quickly; we'll take care of it."_

A few seconds after Tseng stopped talking; they heard the helicopter on the other side of the inn. It rounded on the building and opened fire drawing all the men to the front of the place. As soon as they were all gone, Vincent jumped down from the hill. Cloud tried to follow but the sniper in the window hadn't left. He shot the bark off of Cloud's tree keeping him there. With a growl, he pushed himself from the tree blocking the bullets with Tsurugi and catching up to Vincent who was firing into the window. The gunner moved out of the way of the shots giving Vincent time to jump from the ground to the second floor window. The man gave a frightened look and tried to raise his rifle to shoot Vincent but was put down with one shot between the eyes. Vincent used his cape to wipe the blood that had splashed on him from his cheek. He glanced out the window to see Cloud blocking the bullets from reinforcements that came outside. The friend in him wanted to go out and help Cloud to fend them off, but the Turk in him told him to let the man deal with his own opponents. If it came down to Cloud not killing them then it would be his own demise. Giving the blonde and incentive he pressed a finger to the com-link and spoke to Cloud only.

"Cloud, it's either their blood or yours. They won't lose sleep if you're dead, will you?"

He saw the blonde falter and knew he had heard. Cloud's grip tightened on Tsurugi and he drew one of the side blades from the harness. He blocked the bullets and began fighting in earnest. No matter what he thought he had to get in to the place and get past these people. These people were being paid to be here and do something immoral so it wasn't as if they were innocent people who didn't know what they were doing. Who knows how much blood was on their hands compared to his. He sliced and stabbed them, their blood running down the blades as he made his way through them. It took all of five minutes to reach the door and run through the guard coming out of the door. Vincent watched him enter the door from the window and exited the room. A stuttering mercenary was standing there seeing his dead comrade lying on the floor. He tried to outdraw the man but his gun and hand were blown off by a single shot from Cerberus. Vincent walked past the screaming man, clearing his path with bullets. He wasn't concerned with how many were attacking, though the number was impressive. No, he wanted to know how to get down to the facility below the inn.

Cloud was in the reception room being attacked by militia that was more his style. They held swords, blades and knives. He smirked when he had recognized them…ShinRa defectors. This made him feel less like he was attacking unarmed, untrained people who only knew how to pull a trigger. He blocked, parried, sliced and cut. Flesh tore and blood splattered red with the slight scent of Mako coming from some of them. Not just defectors, SOLDIER defectors. A dark part of Cloud definitely thought this was priceless. All the years of attempting to get into SOLDIER and he was wiping the floor with those who'd gotten in right off the bat. Satisfying was the word that came to mind as he cut one of them in half. He finished off the last one and sighed lowering his blades. The sound of metal whistling through air made him turn around quickly and block the sword that had been coming down on his head. Gunshot was heard and he nearly jumped out of skin. The man who had attacked him stood there with eyes wide but they weren't looking at him. No, he was looking past him. Another mercenary fell to his knees, bleeding from an exit wound in his chest and hit the ground dead. Vincent stood there with the Cerberus still smoking. Cloud felt the corner of his mouth tug into a smirk.

"Shit!" the man in front of him exclaimed. Cloud had almost forgotten about him. He swept the flat part of his side blade under the man knocking him off his feet. He buried one blade into the floor next to the mercenary's head while the other he pressed tip first to the man's throat. Vincent came up beside him and looked down at the man.

"How do we get to the lower level?"

"I don't know man I just got paid to guard this building!"

Cloud and Vincent looked at each other and Cloud stabbed the man through his shoulder. The wound was not fatal but Cloud knew from experience that it was very painful.

"Fuck!"

Vincent drew Cerberus and cocked it. He pointed it at the man's face. "How do we get to the lower level?"

-----

"This better be the right way, or I'll kick your ass again," Reno growled keeping the gun pointed at Ndale's back.

He had resorted to letting the kid lead, beating the crap out of him when he led him to an ambush of mercenaries that he quickly disposed of. Ndale now sported a black eye and busted lip to compliment the pain in his back. The silver haired brat had started to take him in the right direction. He walked past the scientists like nothing was wrong and most of them didn't notice the gun digging into his back. Ndale took him past a few of the Mako crystals that held various shapes that Reno didn't recognize. He wolf whistled at a scantily clad woman with scarlet hair. Ndale rolled his eyes and jumped when his phone rang. He flinched when Reno cocked the gun at him before reaching in his pocket and answered it. A smirk came to his face and handed it to Reno.

"It's for you, Turk."

Slightly confused, Reno took the phone making sure he kept his eyes on the kid. "Walk, you little bastard." He pressed the phone to his ear as they continued. "Who is this, yo?"

"…Behind you…" a feminine voice whispered.

What the hell…! Reno dropped the phone and brought his foot up in a spinning kick to attack whoever was behind him. It was caught in one metal clad hand. The large man he'd seen earlier stood under the fluorescent light finally letting the details of his appearance be known. His hair was spun blonde and his eyes were gold and glowed. He was bigger than anyone Reno had ever seen and none of it was beer weight. The man was built like a monster. He squeezed the redhead's leg to near breaking. Reno grimaced but kept his eyes on the man's face. Something was clicking in his head and he knew that he never forgot a face.

"Not you again, yo!" Reno said his face twisting to recognition. Barrel laughed loud and deep and swing Reno head first into the wall. Before Reno could get his bearings, the big man grabbed him and punched hard enough for him to black out. He then threw the redhead against the wall and watched him slide to the ground leaving a trail of blood on the wall.

"Guess I over did it," Barrel chuckled. "I wonder if he'll still remember everything."

Ndale sighed and picked up his phone, closing it. Winced at the pain in his back and decided it was time he healed. "That was a bit harder than mom said it would be."

"He beat the hell out of you, Ndale," he laughed. "Oh yeah there was one more thing."

Ndale held up his finger to stop him as his phone rang again. "Yes, mother?"

"….goodbye…" the phone went dead. Ndale looked at it in confusion for a second until he saw Barrel's shadow looming over him. His gauntlet switched to an ice materia and he turned to blast the man but Barrel was quicker. The fist collided with the back of his head sending him skidding to the ground, his phone sliding against the wall.

"Good job kid, you definitely made it believable," Barrel said before leaving them there in the hall.

-----

Akino: lawl, this chapter was very, very easy to write which is why I posted it so quick. Nice to see Cloud getting into the bloodshed, right? Sorry about the graphic violence but come on…this is a fic about the Turks. No such things as mild violence. The whole time I've been watching how Reno movies in Advent Children trying to see how best I could describe it and modify his look. I was upset to make him lose his goggles but I'll fix that later. All I could say is: "Reno's so sexy" –squeal- anyway!

The kid's names is pronounced Na-Da-Lā. Yes it has meaning like it's supposed to. I know he seems kinda stupid now but we'll get to the sheer fucked up-ness that is him in later chapters. Next, Tseng and Rude tag team in Blood Soaked part two


	5. Chapter 5: Blood Soaked Part Two

_**What does it take to make you understand, you stubborn human!**_

_I don't understand why you care so much about her?_

_**She is the reason we are still alive. Even I show some appreciation for that. Don't you get it? Nobel saved your worthless hide and she is here while your beautiful Lucrecia left you for dead because of her own weakness.**_

_Will…will we make it?_

_The demon was silent._

_Will we?_

_**The question is not if WE will make it…but if she will…**_

_Vincent shivered when the cool crimson cloak was thrown over him. The fabric was light weight despite its length and appearance and it instantly warmed him. She helped him sit up as she snapped it closed in front muttering about the winter snow and his wounds. Her fingers were trembling and he could smell her fear and anticipation. He took her hand and held it tight with his clawed arm making her laugh nervously._

"_You're a lefty," she giggled. "You shoot with your right but you seem to have done everything else with your left hand. Then again I suppose that makes you ambidextrous. "_

_A slight smile came to his lips at her rambling as she continued to adjust the cloak around his shoulders. She helped him to stand letting it fall to the floor around him. She took Vincent's hand and led him out of the lab, being careful that they were not seen._

"_Stay close to me," she whispered._

_She knew her way around well and knew all the hallways that avoided the night shift. They made it up the stairs of the basement and she checked out the room to make sure no one was asleep there. Carefully, she pulled Vincent's weakened body along and through the mansion's back way. There was hope in both of their steps when they managed to clear the mansion and make it to Nibelhiem. Even going as far as checking them into the inn where they wouldn't be bothered. The innkeeper didn't ask any questions about why Vincent looked so sick. _

_Inside the room, she laid him down. "There, it feels nice doesn't it? A real bed," she smiled. "We'll be out before dawn and it'll be nothing but fresh air and soft beds from now on."_

"_Where…?"_

"_Where am I from?"_

_He nodded. She laughed. "Oh, I'm a big country girl from the Grasslands. My family used to own a Chocobo Ranch out there and raised them to compete in cross country races. I had a gold one, 'fastest thing this side of Kalm,' they used to say. His name was Nimbus. I wonder if mom and dad are still taking care of him." She giggled to herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble. Oh you'll love it, Vincent. The air is clean and everything is peaceful. Mako has no hold out there in the sticks."_

_Vincent closed his eyes imagining being out in the countryside with her. The smell of clean fresh grass and cool breezes filled his nose and he realized that she'd laid down next to him. The scent of freedom was really all over her and she hadn't lost it in the year that she'd been there. He managed to turn on his side and watch her face as she tiredly stared at the ceiling, her hand rubbing her now empty womb. _

"_I…I was so happy when I found out. She would've been close to being born by now."_

_He remained silent letting her speak her mind. It seemed like the right thing to do._

"_My husband…he…he came with me on my internship but…well, we argued. He wanted Hojo to continue the experiment and give birth to a new future. I wasn't pregnant at the time, but he wanted to have one. I was so stupid and so happy when I found out that i was going to have a baby. Then…he told Hojo…" she shook her head and turned to look at him. "Vincent…I…"_

_Vincent followed his impulse and leaned forward to kiss her. She smiled and put a hand to his lips shaking her head. Instead she hugged him close. This was something he never got the chance to give to Lucrecia; something that if he had given her, she wouldn't have had to suffer. She didn't push him away, didn't shy away from him. She wasn't afraid to touch even after she'd seen the horror of what had become of him. He wanted to kiss her…why wouldn't she let him?_

"_We're quite a pair aren't we," she said softly. "Don't worry, my mission was to get you back Vincent, and I won't fail. Then I'll help you be human again no matter how long it takes."_

_

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**Final Fantasy VII: Crimson Sins**

**The Turks**

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**

**Chapter Five: Blood Soaked – Part Two**

Tseng waited calmly on the lift that took them down to the lower levels. Cloud and Vincent had already made it down and were probably searching for Reno in the meantime. Judging by the shots he heard being fired, everything was going according to plan and, when the doors opened, he wasn't surprise to see the trail of the dead. Rude stepped out ahead of him gun drawn. Tseng knew that Rude wasn't one use a firearm but this was about getting in and getting out so Rude's sensibilities weren't in play here. They ran quickly to each corner making sure no one was there to shoot them in the head for being careless. He checked his watch to see where Reno might be and motioned toward once of the many winding hallways. Reno would be somewhere close according to the tracking device and wasn't moving. He didn't want to assume that Reno had broken out only to die but the last transmission they had received from him had sounded urgent as if he were actually in trouble. They moved swiftly through the halls, running past personnel who were grabbing files and evacuating. A set of mercenaries rounded one of the corners opening fire on them.

"There's more of them on the upper level!"

Tseng ducked behind a wall with Rude opposite of him. He checked his watch to see the red dot that was Reno still blinking in that one spot. His subordinate was somewhere down that hall so that meant they had to get there. Tseng looked Rude who only nodded and adjusted his shades. The bigger man ran from behind cover and fired shot after shot at them surprising their opponents. They retaliated by shooting again but Rude had already threw a small bomb their way making them try and retreat. It blew before any of them could get out of the way, blasting them against the walls while Rude ran past them with Tseng following behind. As they made their way past the wreckage Rude's leg was grabbed and he was pulled to the ground; Tseng jumped over him to keep from tripping and looked back for only a second to make sure he could handle himself. A ShinRa defector was attempting to get a hold on him but Rude elbowed him in the face successfully crushing his nose and stunning him. He got to his feet and put a leather clad foot across the man's face successfully snapping it. Tseng had almost forgotten how much strength was hidden under that dry-cleaned uniform. He went on ahead leaving Rude to deal with the backlash and followed the signal to where Reno was. He found his way to the center of the facility where a series of catwalks lay before him. Hearing gunfire, he looked over the railing and saw Vincent launch someone in the air with a well placed kick and fire off a three bullet round from the Cerberus. Cloud wasn't that far away, using a Blade Beam to slice through several opponents at once before moving. He was covered in splattered blood and other unsightly fluids. Idly, Tseng wondered how many had they killed on their way down and if Cloud knew how appealing he was when he was saturated in blood.

"Hey YOU!"

Tseng rolled his eyes and looked at the line of young security guards. "Child's play," he murmured. "I don't have time to play around with you; get out of the way."

They cocked their riffles and aimed at him. These kids barely had enough blood on their hands to even hold a gun. He shook his head feeling a bit old. They didn't make bad guy guards like they use to. He walked forward calmly, putting on his gloves securely as he did. They yelled at him not to move and their itchy trigger fingers twitched as he reached into his pocket. Confusion crossed their inexperience faces when he pulled out seemingly nothing. The leader among them ordered them to open fire when Tseng burst out in a run. He dipped down on his next step to gain leverage and sprung himself into the air. After that, their minds didn't comprehend what had happened as the Wutian flung himself over their heads. All they felt was something like spider web at their necks before the world got blurry and the ground rose up to meet them. Tseng didn't even stay to watch the heads roll away from their bodies. More of them came to bombard his way and opened fire, forcing him to take cover. As soon as he ducked behind the wall a grenade rolled by him toward the gunman and exploded. Rude walked up, wiping the dust from his shades.

"You're getting complacent in your married years," Tseng muttered.

"My apologies, sir."

"Do you think you'll keep up now?" Tseng asked as they were surrounded.

"Yes, sir," Rude pushed the shades up his nose. "I just can't help but wonder where they get the man power for all this."

"Excellent question, we'll look into it later. For now, the ones in the front are mine; you cover my trail."

Dodging bullets, Tseng flicked his wrist sharply watching some of the gunmen flinch as the near invisible filament wrapped around wrists and neck. With a tight fist, he yanked as he ran past them. Their wrists came off in a gush of blood leaving the walls splattered. Tseng paused at the spec of blood that soaked into his cuff. It was almost a shame to but he had a secret love of the smooth messiness of filament wire and therefore didn't mind getting his suits dry cleaned every week. He checked his watch to see his location in relation to Reno's bright beacon. It was loud and showed him that the redhead was just around the corner. He slid his gun out of its holster making sure there was one in the chamber before slowly going around the corner. Reno sat there limply with a bit of blood dried to his neck and in hair. There was gun residue on the skin between his thumb and index finger showing that he had been in possession of gun before it went bad. At least the redhead had gone down fighting.

"Reno," Tseng called softly. Reno mumbled incoherently and the only words he caught were "fawkin' kid." Tseng pulled him away from the wall and allowed him to rest lifelessly on his shoulder to assess the damage. He carefully ran his hand through blood encrusted hair feeling his scalp and searching for any sign that he was still injured. A soft moan brushed across his ear and Reno shifted painfully.

"Director?" was the slurred whisper. "That you, man?"

"Yes, be still I'm checking for abrasions."

"Mm-mm, I healed a while ago," he groaned. "Just been too damn disoriented to get up." Tsengs fingers passed over a sensitive patch where his head had connected to the wall. "You keep touching me like that, Tseng and I'll have to leave a couple o' gil notes on your dresser, yo."

"Very funny," Tseng got a good hold on him and began to force him to stand. "On your feet, Turk."

"Yes, sir!" he laughed as he stumbled on to his feet. He leaned heavily against Tseng and Rude came around the corner. " Yo, Rude! I'm glad to see you and all but you coulda left the other five of ya back with Tifa. Sure she would appreciate it!"

Rude's brow raised and he cut his eyes at Tseng. "Concussion?"

"Possible brain damage," Tseng replied. "Not that it's any different from normal."

"I'm not deaf, I can hear you bastards!" Reno growled. "Oh yeah, I had a live one for ya, yo. But I don't know where he went when the lights went out."

"Can't be helped now, let's go." Tseng helped his subordinate down the hall.

"It's nice to know you guys came and got me."

"You're ShinRa property, Reno. We only came to recover it," Tseng said as he shot down a few straggling soldiers.

"Did you leave Valentine like I told you?" Reno asked flinching at the loud noises.

"What are you talking about?"

Reno opened his eyes half way at Tseng and actually managed to roll them. "Awe, fuck!"

----

"_Valentine, Strife we got Reno. We're out. Tseng's orders are to destroy as much as you can on your way out."_

Vincent nodded. "Affirmative, have the helicopter ready. Cloud?"

"_Understood, but Vincent, I think you need to see this. I'm on the bottom floor down the hall. I'm not far. Just go left."_

Vincent followed Cloud's directions and found the blond standing in front of an observation glass, his blue eyes affixed on the room behind it. Vincent followed his gaze and his eyes widened at the crystals in front of them. Cloud's gaze was locked on the silver haired man frozen with in it, the very first scars he'd ever given him were still etched in a near flawless body. It was Sephiroth's original body. Next to him in a separate crystal was Vincent's nightmare revisited. Chaos's dark towering form seemed to loom over him and as he stared at it, he realized the Chaos was breathing. Both he and Cloud took a step back away from the glass; the blonde's head shaking with a silent 'no' on his lips and the brunette's pulse quickening with the knowing that this was real.

"We have to destroy them…" was Cloud's fear laced voice broke their silent terror. "The Lifestream locked them away for a reason; we have to destroy them!"

Vincent could only nod as he summoned Death Penalty to his hand and jerked it so that the rounds loaded into the barrels. Cloud completed his Fusion Blade and twirled it so that he could perform the Finishing Touch insuring that Sephiroth would be disintegrated. It was not just fear for the planet that drove them to destroy these shadows of the past, but the fear of having what little life they had begun to live taken away from them. These were the beasts that haunted them from past to present and they would be damned if they were a part of their future. Cloud swung his blade down hard creating a shockwave that broke through the glass and split Sephiroth's body in two. He along with the Mako crystal shattered to dust. At the same time, as the glass shattered from Cloud's attack, Vincent squeezed the trigger to blow his personal nightmare back to the life stream. A bullet ricocheted off the barrel making him miss his shot and nearly lose his grip on Death Penalty. Both he and Cloud turned in the direction of it ready to attack. A child stood there, no older than twelve or thirteen, a smoking gun in his hand. His cheek was swollen and a gush of blood ran down from his forehead to his neck. His silver bangs were plastered to his cheek and chin by the fluid and his pale jade eyes were unfocused and dull.

Vincent said what they both were thinking. "A remnant?"

"No…" Cloud whispered after a minute before shaking his head. "No, not a remnant. He doesn't…" he trailed off trying to find the right word. "He doesn't feel like Kadaj and his brothers."

The boy stumbled barely conscious as his gun arm lowered. "Don't…mom would…get mad at you…Vincent…" He said before going down to his hands and knees, the gun sliding away from him.

Neither of the men wanted to lower their weapons but when the boy let out a shaky breath that voiced a soft plea for help, Cloud's resolve waivered. He lowered his blade and finally sheathed it after a moment, trusting Vincent to shoot the kid if anything happened. Slowly and cautiously, he approached the boy and knelt in front of him making sure Vincent still had a clear line of fire. The boy looked at him with unfocused eyes and then at the pile of dust that was once Sephiroth. He snorted, a weak smile coming to his bloody face.

"You did…what I was going to do," he laughed before falling against Cloud startling him.

There was no success in rousing him so Cloud looked back at Vincent to ask him what they should. The words died on his lips and he was on his feet in what he knew was a second to his late.

"Vincent!"

Vincent didn't have time to retaliate. All he sensed was a presence behind him just like in his nightmare and he turned quickly raising the Death Penalty but was hit with the force of Chaos slamming into him and through him. He was on his back before he could blink, his head slamming painfully against the floor. All he could see were white flashes of light and worried blue eyes staring down at him. He could hear Cloud's voice calling him but he couldn't respond over the burning pain spreading through his body. Laughter filled his mind as he fought to remain conscious.

**Foolish host of mine, you truly thought you were rid of me?**

He looked up at Cloud who seemed startled. He saw his eyes reflected in those crystal blues, finding them a bright demonic amber. No, was all he could think before darkness fall over his vision. All he heard before the darkness became deafening was Cloud calling for help over the com-link.

------

Heeled feet tapped on the compound floor. Bodies were everywhere and those who had survived had long since fled. Tsu-li stood among the wreckage like a white angel and smiled at all the carnage. A work of art is what the ancient warriors of Wutai would call this, a glorious masterpiece of a massacre. The Turks were better than she expected. A laughed escaped her painted lips as she twirled Reno's lost goggles around her fingers. She flipped open her phone and dialed a number.

"I disarmed emergency self-destruct and salvaged our data. Thor evacuated with the choice subjects long ago." She paused listening. "No, I'm afraid Loki will not be joining us like we thought but I know the Fenrir strain has been successfully transmitted. Also I've found our 'Iduna.' She's left Costa del Sol and made for Midgar Edge. No she doesn't know, she's just visiting a few friends….yes, ma'am." She was about to hang up when the voice asked her to wait. "Yes, Ma'am? Ndale has been taken care of…." She frowned suddenly. "What about it him? That's not nec-" she bit back a growl. "Yes, Ma'am. I'll make sure he is my next target. Thor will handle the Nobel girl. Freya out." She slammed the phone shut.

"It seems like there's trouble in paradise, Freya."

Tsu-li turned to glare at the man who stood there. His hair was midnight black with a shine of blue under the light. His eyes were sharp like hers but deepest black with a dark smirk engraved on his face. "You were not called, Frey."

"I only came to see how things were going." He looked around. "Looks like it went badly. You didn't even contain Reno long enough to get the plan going. You lost Sephiroth, and you didn't even get a chance to nab that girl. Damn you guys are fuck ups."

"Filthy black blooded traitor."

He laughed. "Yeah, I'm half 'n half. Woe is the honor of Wutai. All I wanna know is where my buddy is?"

Tsu-li paused and looked down in embarrassment. Frey smirked. "Ah, on the way to Midgar Edge then. I'll go pay good old Reno a visit. See ya."

---------

Shelke opened her eyes finding herself lying in her bed. When had she left the Mako tank? Her phone ringing caught her attention and she stared at the name above the number trying to decipher who it was. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew the name but she wasn't certain it was someone she was familiar with. She closed her eyes and opened them again, pressing the phone to her ear. She fought not to say anything but Lucrecia's voice came through hers without her control.

"Hello…" a soft smile of warmth came to her cold features. "I'm glad you made it Midgar. What are you going to do while you're there?" she even laughed a little. "Your birthday huh? Well have fun sweetheart and don't get into any trouble….right, I love you too, Yulee."

She clicked the phone shut as the smile faded from her lips as Shelke took over again. "Who was that, Lucrecia Cresent?"

She frowned when she received no answer from the woman's consciousness and took it upon herself to go down to the basement. "You can't keep taking over my body. I will not allow it. I'm going to find a way to keep you at bay and you will not do what you intend to."

"_What is it that I intend to do, Shelke?"_

"You won't hurt him…not while I'm capable of stopping you."

"_You have no idea what I want for him…"_

-------

Vincent sighed comfortably and leaned into the warm touch against his face. He heard a soft giggle and hair that didn't belong to him tickled his face as his nose was filled with the smell of freedom.

"Helena…?"

"_Wake up, Vincent."_

He opened his crimson eyes and stared up into deep blues looking down at him. His mouth moved but it made no sound and he tried to call her name again. She shook her head and smiled.

"_You have to take care of them…they need you…"_

"take care of who…?"

A soft laugh filled his ears. _"Your family, of course."_

"My family?"

She ran her fingers through his hair. _"Yes, they are your family and you're one of them no matter how much you don't want to be. Don't you know that they will never betray you…never leave you…and they'll never let you down. They're our family, Vincent."_

"The Turks…?"

"_Yes,"_ she laughed and kissed his cheek. _"I can't wait for you to meet her. You'll love her."_

"Who…"

All he heard was a happy giggle from her.

------------------

Akino: sorry about the wait. Been working for the carnival and its finally over so I'm back to fanfic writing. I apologize that this isn't as good but the next will better! Either way, next chapter lets talk about STUFF! And THINGS….lol, review please! XD


	6. Chapter 6: Intermission

"_Vincent!"_

_So…we don't make it…_

_Helena took the bullet for him falling back against him and he held her to him with. The way she snapped back from it felt so familiar to him but he didn't have time to question it. She snatched his gauntlet arm forgetting about its tenderness and led him away from the ShinRa grunts that had pursued them. She didn't give him time to feel the pain. It was almost sunrise and Vincent trusted her to get them to the helicopter that would free them from this accursed place. She lifted her wrist to close to her face and he could hear shouting into it._

"_This is Turk Operative Helena Nobel! Target acquired, is the transport ready."_

_A Turk? _

_**As if it weren't obvious…**_

_She cursed when there was no response and she drew her gun to return fire. Two of the grunts went down with precise shots to their heads but the others were catching up quickly. They made it outside of town where a helicopter did wait for them, but there were no Turks anywhere in sight. She fired at another who'd gotten too close to Vincent. He stumbled over his own feet and fell to the grass nearly pulling her down with him. She was only fazed for a moment before she pulled him up to his feet and supported his weight against her. She shot a grunt straight through his helmet, right between the eyes and helped him onto the Helicopter. Vincent knew something was wrong. He smelt old blood within the confines of the metal carrier. He knew the scent of corpses all too well in his profession and he recognized the black suits adorned by unmoving bodies. _

"_He…lena…" he tried to call to her. She climbed onto the copter and gasped at the bodies of her fellow Turks. A moment of grief passed over her face before she shook it off and went to get in the pilot seat. A scream of fright escaped her lips and the gun was knocked from her hand. Her back hit the floor with a painful thud and Vincent watched helplessly as Hojo pinned her to the ground with a scalpel to her throat._

"_Hojo!" she choked out._

"_It seems like Turks are just falling into my lap these days, wouldn't you agree, my dear?"_

"_How…" Helena gasped hopelessly._

"_I guess there's a limit to how much you can trust your friends, isn't right, Lucrecia."_

_Vincent was delirious but he could not mistake scent of irises after a spring rain that suddenly filled his sensitive nose. Red heels stepped closer to Helena in a calm rhythm and a sweep of brown hair that now touched her ankles fluttered near her face._

"_Yes, professor," Lucrecia said softly. "I'm sorry Helena, but Vincent is too important for me to let go."_

"_No," she whispered shaking her head. "Just let him go…"_

"_No…never."_

_

* * *

_

**Final Fantasy VII: Crimson Sins**

**The Turks**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Six - Intermission**

"Vincent…"

The name was desperately moaned as fangs brushed over Cloud's neck. The blonde was lying back against him, his back pressed solidly to his chest. It was a nice fit considering the fighter was only 5'8" compared to Vincent's towering form. Vincent's claw dug lightly into his side beneath his sleeveless sweater making a soft gasp erupt through parted peach lips. His human hand slid along Cloud's waist band and nimbly unbuttoned the top slipping inside. The blonde arched when the gloved hand wrapped around oversensitive skin. He couldn't remember ever being this around or this easily manipulated by simple touch. His body felt heavy, drugged even and Vincent's tentative hands gave him an amazing balance of pleasure and pain. The hand between his legs moved up and down at a steady rhythm that increased with the motion of his hips. The claw raked down his abdomen leaving blooming trails of red that stung delightfully as the Mako raced to heal it in turn.

"God," he moaned his head tilting back to look into Vincent's eyes. Red bled over crystalline blue and Cloud's breath caught in his throat at the possessive glow within them. He held that gaze as his hips rocked against Vincent's hand in shallow movements and he closed his eyes biting his bottom lip as the first waves of his orgasm hit him in smooth shocking currents. He threw his head back on Vincent's shoulder biting back the cry that was threatening to erupt from his throat. A dark chuckle that was deeper than anything he'd heard from the gunman's mouth broke him from the dreamy sensations and he weakly looked at Vincent's face again. His eyes widened and frozen fear gripped his heart as glowing amber eyes bore down on him with dark sadistic amusement. Pale harlequin features twisted into a sinful smirk as hands found his hair and painfully pulled his head back. Cloud cried out when those too long fangs pierced his neck.

"**You're mine!"**

"CLOUD!"

Cloud's eyes snapped open and his breath coming in sharp gasps. He grabbed the hand that was shaking him out of pure instinct and flipped his offender onto the bed beneath him successfully straddling and pinning him there.

" SHIT!" he heard before the sound of a safety going off and the cool metal of a gun pressed to his temple. His vision cleared as the haze of sleep left him and he found Reno lying beneath him. Green eyes glared at him with a primal glow like that of a cornered fox. What was he doing in Reno's room? Reno would shoot if he felt it necessary and seeing his reflection there, he knew why.

"Reno?" he said drowsily.

"Oh so it's you in there?" Reno spat. "It'd be awesome if you could stop strangling me, yo!"

Cloud automatically let go his eyes still cloudy. "Sorry, reflex. Why do you have that gun to my head?"

"Well when I wake somebody out o a nightmare and find Sephiroth starin down at me during a fuckin' chokehold I tend to get a itchy trigger finger!" he exclaimed irritably but lowered the gun. He scooted back away from the blonde so that he rested against the head board. "I couldn't sleep cuz I heard you tossing and turning. You look like you were having a nightmare, man."

"And you just happened to have a gun in your hand when you came to wake me?"

"No, there's always a nine milly under the guest pillow," he explained.

"Oh yeah? What's under _your_ pillow then?"

"Heh, wouldn't you like to know. What the hell was all that tossing about anyway?"

Cloud schooled his face to reveal nothing, hoping that the heat didn't reach his face and give him away. He was happy that it didn't. "Nothing…just a nightmare to add to the rest of the pile."

"You're lyin', Cloud," Reno said with a smirk. "But I don't really care. What I wanna know is how long your eyes been like that?"

Cloud shrugged. "It used to happen a lot when I was fighting geostigma but it stopped after it was cured. Then it just suddenly started again the other day."

Reno shrugged seemingly satisfied with that. "Last time you get to bunk with me, psycho."

Cloud rolled his eyes. Oh yeah, that's why he was in Reno's room. This was one of the Turk suites that were used when they were on lock down or at least that's how Reno explained it. He didn't even know what that meant but he knew Reno actually chose to live here rather than find his own place. It was two to a room and since Rude had gotten married to Tifa, it had been Reno's room alone. He'd been offered a place to sleep since Vincent was still unconscious on the medical floor of the new Shinra HQ in Edge. He unfortunately hadn't planned for an overnight stay and didn't think to pack any spare clothing in Fenrir's saddle compartments so having something to sleep in was a problem. He'd ended up sleeping in boxers in order to be comfortable. He remembered sharing a drink with Reno before he turned in on the suggestion that "a good strong bottle is all the medication is all I need for this concussion." Admittedly, the alcohol had relaxed Cloud enough for exhaustion to take over. Of course, the whiskey might have been the reason he had had that dream.

"So," Reno said breaking the silence and searching for his cigarettes. "You wide awake or do you plan on hittin' the hay again."

"I doubt I could get back to sleep yet. I can be a certified insomniac sometimes. Strange though, when I was doing all that fighting, I never had trouble getting to sleep."

"Not sleeping during peace times? Not a good sign, man," he said bending over to look under the bed. "Oh look at that."

He pulled an unopened carton of cigarettes from under the bed and tore into them. He pulled out a pack and tapped it against his palm a few times before opening it and pulling one out with his mouth. Cloud watched him with mild curiosity. His hair was still down since the rescue mission and it now had been washed well, making it shine like blood in the moonlit room. His chartreuse eyes were half lidded from drowsiness and glowed bright when he put the flame to his cigarette. It stood out like color in a noir black and white film. His lips, wrapped around the cigarette were thin and seemed always ready to pass that cocky smirk to anyone he chose to. When he exhaled, he didn't really blow out but rather let the smoke seep out from his mouth and the room filled with the strong scent of spiced cinnamon and some other herb Cloud couldn't recognize. The blonde closed his eyes and breathing in to enjoy the smell. It reminded him of the tribal celebrations in Cosmo Canyon held around bonfires that smelled similar to this. Those were nights he felt most relaxed and he often visited during them. He looked back at Reno with an almost smile.

"What are those?"

"Triple C's," Reno replied running his tongue over his lips savoring the flavor. "Cosmo Canyon Cristo; they're illegal on this end and I'll shoot you if you tell anybody. You want one?"

"Don't smoke," he said shaking his head. "It's-"

"Bad for you, yeah I know. You think this is bad, you should see what Tseng imports from Wutai on his off days. Has a pipe and everything. Here have a puff; I won't tell if you won't."

Cloud debated for a moment having smoked before in his cadet years but never touched one after the Nibelhiem incident. There wasn't a particular reason he stopped but he never picked it back up again either. Hesitantly he moved closer, his mind hazing over from the smell of the cigarettes. He barely noticed the faint luminance in those cunning eyes as Reno pressed the black stick to his mouth and watched him inhale. For a moment those glowing blue eyes dilated for a moment before shrinking back to normal. Cloud felt a certain vertigo feeling and he knew why those cigarettes were illegal. Reno smirked.

"Good boy, feelin' sleepy yet?"

Cloud shook his head choosing to ignore Reno's 'good boy' comment. "Does your boss know you're high, ninety percent of the time?"

"Am not, yo!" Reno laughed. "Besides, these don't even get me toasted anymore. I'm pretty much immune to them. These are just a personal relaxation tool that just happens to make me feel good along with anybody in secondhand distance."

"I can see that," Cloud said sitting back on his feet. "I don't think getting high is going to help me sleep."

"You'd be surprised. Oh come on, don't fight it." Reno said when he saw Cloud trying to clear his head. He sat up and grabbed the back of Cloud's hair playfully blowing a healthy dose of the smoke in the blond's face. He was shoved back roughly as Cloud coughed and glared at him. "Chill, its not like it'll kill you. Bet you're startin' to feel real good right now, yo."

He didn't say anything. Instead he found his way over to the headboard and sat down next to the Turk before his limbs completely gave out. He didn't notice that he was half way leaning against Reno and the redhead said nothing at all. Reno inhaled on the cigarette again sighing in the silence. Cloud's eyes were still open but the telltale haze was glazed over his eyes.

"Yo, Cloud?"

"Mm?"

"Why did you want to be in SOLDIER?"

Cloud paused for a moment before looking at the redhead suspiciously. "That's…an outdated question, Reno."

Really, I mean you got everything SOLDIER's got without the paperwork. Hell, looking at your infantry track record, Lazard passed up a hell of a good deal."

"I was too small," Cloud muttered. "At the time I mean."

"As if that mattered," Reno scoffed and his tone said he knew something that Cloud didn't. "Either way, I'm just curious. What did you want outta life that you needed to be in Soldier to get, yo?"

Cloud was silent studying the relaxed posture of the redhead as he reclined against his pillows. He couldn't decide if this sudden question was just curiosity or was the Turk picking for information. If he wanted information out of Cloud, why of all things bring that up? He took a deep breath and told himself that it was the Triple C's making him do this. He looked up into those chartreuse eyes, the answer tumbling out of his lips as natural as breathing.

"I think that's kind of a long story. When I was a kid, I wasn't exactly the greatest guy to be around."

"You still ain't."

"Very funny," Cloud grumbled. "I didn't have friends, I got blamed for a lot of things that weren't my fault, and I was completely invisible to the girl I liked. I even got blamed for her almost getting herself killed. To say that Tifa and I were childhood friends would be a lie. She didn't know me that well nor did she try to. If anything, she was one of the ones that picked on me for being weird. Her first time even acknowledging my existence was when I got the guts to tell her that I was joining SOLDIER."

Reno scooted closer so that they were touching more than what was necessary while keeping eye contact with Cloud. In the smoky haze of the room, Cloud could've sworn there was alright Mako glow in the Turk's eyes but he couldn't prove it.

"What'd she say to that?" he asked softly, his breath smelling of the herbs of Cosmo Canyon.

"She…asked me that if she were ever in a jam would I come and save her. I promised I would, I was more than happy too because I thought she was finally acknowledging me but I think she just liked the idea that a big strong SOLDIER would be at her beck and call. She's a control freak like that though she's not cruel or anything. I think Rude handles her better than I ever could."

"Rude handles everyone better than others could."

"True…anyway, underneath it all I knew that when I left she'd forget all about me, even though nowadays she swears she didn't. When no one wished me luck but my own mother I realized that the real reason I wanted to join was because I wanted to go somewhere else. I wanted to be somewhere I knew I would be accepted. After I met Zack, I _knew_ SOLDIER was where I needed to be. I fit well among them even though I wasn't apart of them. Hell, even Sephiroth acknowledged me a few times when I aided their missions."

"You wanted a home right?" Reno asked softly.

"Yeah, I wanted home."

"Did you ever get that home, Blondie?"

"I thought I did when I moved in with Tifa after the remnants but she wanted things from me that I wasn't willing to give. Denzel and Marlene understood but Tifa's sensibilities couldn't grasp it."

"Right, it was a place to stay not your home."

"Then I started living with Vincent and Shelke…I've been more at home than I used to be…but…" Damn, his head felt so fuzzy. It was now that he noticed that Reno was pressed close against him, face to face, and a hair's breath away from his mouth. His green eyes had taken on a florescent glow that he'd never noticed before and was amplified by the darkness of the room. He'd never been this close to the Turk before. "…Mako…?"

Reno's smirked belonged to an evil fox spirit, full of trickery and cunning. "It's not enough right?"

"No…" Cloud's voice dropped to a breathy whispered.

"And if I said I, we, could give you that home, Blondie?" Reno's voice came out in warm soothing tones and his eyes held Cloud in a penetrating gaze. Cloud couldn't look away. It wasn't that he didn't want to, god knew he did. But his eyes wouldn't turn away. Reno had this strange hold on him and his body didn't want to escape. There was this strange feeling curling inside of him like a great beast stretching after along nap. It was strange, instinctual, and he didn't like it. A low animalistic growl escaped his lips before he could stop it and Reno brushed his face against his throat in a gesture that was both familiar and not. It calmed him almost immediately.

"Easy, Cloud," he whispered. "I know they got to you; I just wanna see where."

Cloud found himself snarling. A wave of dark aggression bubbled up inside him and he wanted to grab Reno and pin him down to the bed in submission. No, that wasn't right. He had to get away from Reno; yeah, that was it. It was just the smoke from the Triple C's getting to him. He was just a little intoxicated.

"Get off me," he growled lowly.

He felt the redhead shudder against him and it sent a sparks of heat low in his body. The heat he felt within began to stir as Reno leaned down to press an opened mouth kiss to his throat.

"There it is…" Reno murmured brushing his teeth over his throat.

"Reno!" a hard knock at the door followed the call.

"Fuck!" Reno cursed under his breath at the interruption. When he pulled away Cloud slumped down dazedly and watched Reno swagger to the door as if nothing happened. What the hell _had_ just happened? Had Reno just come on to him…or…what?

Reno opened the door revealing Rude who was clean and apparently rested despite them only being down for a few hours. The redhead's face twisted into obvious annoyance. "What?"

"Tseng says he needs you and Strife down on the Medical floor in a two hours. He thinks Valentine is waking up."

"You couldn't call, big man?" Reno grumbled.

"Judging by the smell in this room, I think I was right to come," Rude said sharply. "Don't be late."

Reno watched the bald man walk away from the door smoothly giving away nothing but he could tell. He could tell that Rude disproved of his methods of relaxation and of whom he was choosing to relax with. Ah well. Reno should find time to remind him that he wasn't Rude's problem anymore.

"Hey Blondie?" he called back over his shoulder only to find Cloud had slumped down and was fast asleep. He gave a small smile and closed the door. He could afford to let Cloud sleep a bit in exchange for picking his brain. "Bet you won't dream again, Fenny."

Tifa wiped the bar down humming to a tune that was on the radio. As Edge prospered, entertainment had returned. Bands, orchestras, and theater had climbed out of the wreckage and flourished like a flower. Even the running of the Loveless opera had returned. She smiled as she watched Marlene sway to the song on their old radio as she mopped the floor. Denzel bobbed his head as he went over Cloud's Edge deliveries. Since he'd moved out to Nibelhiem, Cloud had given Denzel the well paying task of taking care of the deliveries on this side of the ocean. He'd even built the kid a bike and trained Denzel well in combat. He was more capable of defending himself and very skilled at riding his own bike. So now, he was counting and going over the books while mouthing the words to the music. Tamil was helping wash dishes on top of the stool Rude had built for him. Marlene began to sing out loud knowing how much it disturbed Denzel and ignored his glares.

Tifa smiled at them and paused when she heard Sara whine in her carrier. She fussed and threw a tiny fit that Tifa knew would get worse. Cutting teeth was the worst. She went to the icebox and got a chilled teething ring out of it. She waved it in front of the infant to catch her attention.

"Ah?" she said opening her mouth in demonstration.

Sarah giggled and opened her mouth in turn allowing Tifa to slide the ring in. She gummed it almost immediately and calmed. Tifa smiled and squeezed her cheek before getting back to work. They all paused when the bell above the door jingled signaling that they had gotten an early riser.

"Good Morning, welcome to Seventh – OH MY GOD!"

Denzel whipped around at Marlene's shout to see a young woman standing there holding a bruised arm and bloody face. Her dark blue eyes were slightly dilated from shock and she was visibly shaken but a calm lopsided smile was on her lips. Her raven hair was matted to her neck and forehead thanks to a healthy gush of blood coming from her head. She came forward a bit looking at each of them.

"Um…you guys wouldn't know where I could find a tow service?"

Tifa snapped out of her shock and jumped over the counter to help the girl as Marlene took her good arm to sit her down. She ordered Marlene to run back and get the first aid kit and a cure. Denzel got a couple of wet towels to wipe the blood away.

"Are you alright?" Denzel asked, speaking slowly.

She it took a moment for her to focus her attention but she nodded slowly. "I, um, I wiped out on my bike on the way to a friend's house. I was on the Midgar highway cuz I just got into Edge before sunrise this morning…" she closed her eyes trying to think. "I got cutoff by this jerk in a big hover truck. He didn't even stop to see if I survived."

Tifa took a cold towel to wipe the blood from her head. "What an asshole," she muttered. "Can you see straight, honey? Were you wearing a helmet?"

"Yeah, I'm alright, but my arm is sore. I think it's dislocated," she lowered her eyes sheepishly. "No, I wasn't wearing one; I never needed one before. That guy seemed like he was determined to kill me, though! It sucked."

"I bet! Asphalt ain't nice is it," Denzel said with a comforting smile.

"You're telling me!" she laughed but cringed when Tifa carefully wiped the rest of the blood from her head. She miled a little and looked up at Tifa with dazed eyes. "You have hands like my mom. I'm really okay; head wounds always bleed the most."

Tifa shook her head. "I'm more worried about you having a concussion, sweet…heart…" Her words faded when she saw the gash on the girl's head slowly healing. It wasn't sealing fast and it would've been barely noticeable if Tifa hadn't been experienced with accelerated healing. Denzel saw this as well and recognized it from the times he'd seen Cloud heal so quickly. He and Tifa shared a look as Marlene came back with Materia. She glanced between them.

"What?" she asked sitting next to the injured girl.

"Nuthin' Mar," Denzel muttered.

She ignored it and took the girl's arm. "It doesn't look like it's broken. What happened?"

"Crashed my ride," she spouted cheerfully.

"Wow, you're pretty tough for someone who fell off a bike."

"Hey, I didn't fall off my bike!" she countered.

"Then what else do you call a wipe out!" Denzel smirked.

Tifa backed away from the witty banter and got on her phone. The girl leaned to see what she was doing.

"Whatcha doin', Ma'am?"

"Calling a doctor, dear. Cure materia does nothing for concussions," she said in a motherly tone before going behind the bar out of earshot. "Rude? Hey, baby, I'm so glad you made it back alright. How'd it go? Ah good," she sighed in relief. "Listen…you know for a fact that I don't trust Rufus or any of the people you work with but this just might be your mess. There's a girl here who just got into a bike accident…No no, that's the thing; she totally walked in her on her own strength with a bad head injury. Says she crashed her bike without a helmet but her brains aren't all over the street. Rude, she was healing before we even brought out the materia. No, I didn't see any glow in her irises so I can't tell if she's really Mako enhanced but I mean, accelerated healing has got to mean something." She paused listening. "Well, I'm going to bring her to the doctor, maybe you could have Reeve to take a look….no, Rude, I rather WRO doctors look at her. I know you guys don't do bad things anymore but just do it for my sake. Please, honey?" she smiled at the shuffling sound knowing he was fidgeting. "Thank you, Rude. Hold on okay," she covered the speaker of the phone and looked back at the three teens. "What's your name sweetheart?"

"Yuli!" the girl said immediately. "Yuli Fong."

"Yo, Cloud! He's coming to, man!"

Vincent opened his eyes to the sound of Reno's voice and waited for them to clear as bright blue eyes filled his vision. "Yeah, its Vincent this time. His eyes are just red."

"Thank god! Chaos was making my skin crawl, yo!"

"What?" Vincent asked hoarsely. "Chaos?"

Cloud sat down beside him. "You've been out for a day and a half now, Vincent."

"Why?" he was becoming more confused by the moment. He tried to sit up but Cloud's firm hand pushed him back down on the hospital bed. It was the he noticed he was being restrained by strong metal cuffs and that everyone in the room had their weapons drawn.

"Chaos did something to you and you were knocked unconscious. I don't know what happened but he disappeared afterwards. Since then you've been in and out of consciousness and Chaos has been trying to attack us."

"This is the first time you've been lucid, Valentine," said Tseng.

He groaned and looked at the cuffs with a passing interest before sitting up and snapping the metal effortlessly. Cloud and Tseng were the only ones who didn't look surprised.

"So, we've been in the room with this guy the whole time when Chaos could've just broken the damn things and killed us all!" Reno shook hs head. "Now, I know he was fuckin' with us."

"What is he talking about?" Vincent asked searching for his gun.

"As we said, Chaos has been in control of your body for the most part and has been saying some…very interesting things that he wanted to do to us."

Vincent didn't ask Tseng didn't elaborate. "Where…"

Cloud held up the holster containing Cerberus. "I didn't want to take a chance of you turning it into Death Penalty and blowing our brains out."

"Are you sure you're sane enough to have your weapon returned to you?" Rude asked ready to shoot him if he spoke otherwise.

Vincent didn't even look at Rude. He stared at the Cloud with a blank expression which the blond mirrored before shaking his head and tossing the holster to him. Reno's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them and he smirked.

"Well, at least that's over, yo." He adjusted the bandage wrapped around his head."So, who wants to shoot the shit about what the fuck that is?" He pointed past Vincent toward the adjacent bed.

Tseng merely shrugged. "Cloud said it was not a remnant as we thought."

"Based on what?" Reno asked challengingly.

Cloud narrowed his eyes at the redhead. What was his deal today? "That kid is human; modified with a crap load of Mako but he's very human. I can…I can sense it and I don't sense Sephiroth anywhere in him. If anything, he seemed pretty happy that I destroyed Sephiroth's body back there."

Vincent looked down at the boy imprinting every feature about him and finding that he looked like Sephiroth's clone despite what Cloud sad. He was even more disturbed by the fact that he was relieved to see the boy alive. Why the hell was he relieved about that?

"I don't know what he is but I think we should take him to Reeve when he wakes. The scientists at WRO can evaluate him. At least we'll have a better understanding. In the meantime, I'd like to hear what you learned while you were captured, Reno?"

Reno smirked from his perch near the wall. "I may have seen and heard a few things. I tell you one thing, they weren't careful. You'd swear they wanted me to know certain things but they bit off more than they could chew with lil' old me."

"Apparently," Tseng murmured.

"I tell ya one thing," Reno gestured to him. "I ain't sayin shit around that thing. I don't care if he's unconscious. Let's talk somewhere else."

* * *

Akino: long wait for a crappy chapter…yep…writers block. Totally had the idea and lost it _. Oh well, at least its plot relevant. Sorry folks! XP next will definitely be better. At least you got to Yuli.


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